Time
by Evan Vave
Summary: 45th century earth gets altered as the time streams change leaving one time agent to change it back... But repairing the time stream is not as easy as one would think. OC,George Kirk,Jim Kirk
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay so I know the story kind of starts slow, it first establishes the Character of John Shepherd and how he becomes a time agent, and then crosses into the Movie in chapter 3 where he spends time aboard the USS Kelvin and thats where it starts to get interesting. So if the first few chapters make your eyes glaze over then just skip to chapter 3 where its more interesting. Anyway, I plan to Introduce the enterprise after chapter 8 (currently writing chapter 8 which is going to be a huge battle sequence). anyway read on an review :)

Also while I am going to be adding new chapters, I will also be moving through sections of previous chapters and adjusting them slightly (or majorly as in the opening sequence of this chapter).

* * *

The sky erupted in a brilliant array of colors above Romulus, as the planet's primitive inhabitants looked up to watch in deft wonder. Little did they know of the danger that loomed above them, and so they continued to watch on, dazzled by its splendour.

Above the planet, however, thing's were far more dire, as vessels of varying size's had blinked into existence and begun to descend upon the helpless world.

Darana, Lord of the Burarli fleet sat upon the throne of the imperial star cruiser Destarna. He had ruled his empire for eons, conquering entire worlds across the vast expanse of the Beta Quadrant. That was until he encountered the Romulan's. The Romulan's resisted and defied his will, retaliating against his home world and burning it to ash and cinder. Now however, he would have his revenge, though it would herald the beginning of a Time war, he would take this world as his own, 11000 years before the Romulan exodus from Vulcan. Twenty thousand vessels followed suit, blinking into existence and taking up position over the Romulan home world. Already streaks could be seen while drop ships delivered their payloads from high orbit, preparing the world for colonization.

The time drew near for his own Vessel to descend, when every alarm upon his bridge resounded in warning. Darana stood, furious at the intrusion to his tranquility. "What is happening" he shouted, ready to tear the life from whoever had disturbed him.

A page quivered and approached its Lord, "I am sorry" it uttered in a faint and fearful voice "My Lord, we have detected multiple temporal signatures, they are not of our own" it cowered from the fury that was sure to follow.

Darana turned to the page, rage filling his eyes as he reached out with a clawed hand and severed the being's head. He looked down as blood reigned down upon his pristine floor, his anger giving way to the urgency of the moment. "Show me" he shouted as immediately holographic images appeared before him revealing the arrival of another fleet, one that matched his own in power and numbers.

"A message comes my Lord" a second page announced, sure to remain out of arms length of its master.

"Let me see" Darana ordered.

An image then appeared before him of a being he had never encountered "This world belongs to the Castana" It announced, its voice seeped in arrogance "You will depart, Immediately, or we shall destroy you"

"You dare threaten the Burarli!" Darana enraged at the monitor "May your blood reign freely upon my new home" he shouted, terminating the image.

Outside, the Castana vessels unleashed their fury upon the Burarli vessels as the Burarli struggled to recover their drop ships. Below the primitive beings of Romulus watched as new stars began to form, adorning their heavens.

For hour's the war raged between the graceful Castana star cruisers and the utilitarian designed Burarli, turning the planets orbit into a minefield of wreckage. It was then that the Burarli chose to do the unthinkable, in an instant they unleashed a torrent of subspace weapons, weapons that had been outlawed by every known sentient species in the galaxy.

Space ruptured, erupting powerful wakes of energy while the ruptures were torn across the minefields, like zippers, by the engine cores of both the Castana and the Burarli. In an effort to seal the ruptures before they consumed the planet, the Castana sacrificed their ships. In that instant the Burarli had gained the upper hand and soon the war had drawn to an end as the Castana were all but destroyed.

Darana smiled as the last of the Castana vessel's exploded into a million fragments. "Resume colonization of the planet" he ordered, while summoning a page. He picked up a glass from the page's tray and consumed the sweet nectar it contained. And then it happened again, the warning klaxons piercing the still air filling Darana with rage. His page quickly moved to avoid his masters rage, nervously cowering into a far corner of the room. Darana looked up at the monitors and fumed as they spilled forth information about the latest threat.

"Vortex's" he shouted "NOOOO!!!" he shouted, turning to the cowering page he plunged his claws deep within the creatures chest. He then withdrew his hand, still clutching a beating heart.

Outside a thousand vortex's formed spilling forth a fleet of sleek and powerful looking star ships. Darana knew that only one race used such a method of travel through space and time, the federation. The image of a humanoid soon materialized upon his screens "This is Admiral Juran Dax of the Federation star ship Faraday, stand down and prepare to be returned to your own time" it spoke with a cool controlled voice. Darana shook his head, he would not stand down, he would not give up, there was nothing left for him to return to, his home world destroyed, all he had left was his revenge.

Daranas fleet opened fire, seriously outmatched both in numbers and technology they stood no chance. Darana closed his eyes as the last of his ship's exploded and the federation vessels swarmed around his cruiser. "It is over" he uttered as his vessel erupted into a blinding star.

On the surface of Romulus its primitive inhabitants sighed, the show the heavens had put on for them was over, and so they retreated back to the depths from which they came. All except for a single, lone humanoid creature that still stared at the sky. He had watched the events unfold, not as the inhabitants of this world, but through the senses his people had bestowed upon him. The war was over, and now it was his job to clean up the mess. The figure shook his head, he had been a time agent for over five hundred years now, relatively speaking, and yet it still pained him to watch the damage his ancestors had caused, not only to the time stream, but to themselves. Summoning the power of the temporal energy within him, his essence transformed into the slick visage of starship, and he plunged into orbit ready to dispose of the mess of technology that could one day alter the time stream. Little did he know that his own little clean up, would damage the time stream beyond repair.

* * *

Director Hanson had overseen the Temporal Accord for over five hundred years now. In that time he had witnessed the joining of hundreds of temporal agents, and only twenty three had successfully completed the joining. Theoretically only 1 percent of all potential joining were successful , in practice it was closer to 0.8 percent. Those that survived however, were given access to technology so advanced they could rewrite the universe. The selection of a candidate took place on two levels, the first was the mental component, much like the symbioses of trill, an unstable personality would be rejected by the joining. The second level was genetic, and very few races possessed the required genetic component. The majority of time agents were in some part Vulcan, however no pure Vulcan had ever passed the genetic screening. It seemed that a random convergence of genetics was required to foster the requisite genome sequence acceptable to the joining.

This is what gave the Director the most pause for the latest potential inductee. Genetically he was purely human, something that was very rare in this day and age. However genetic screening indicated that he had the highest potential match for a joining on a genetic level. On a mental level, he had passed the most standard checks, even though the deeper scans also gave the director reason for pause.

"The Council of the Accord has ruled Director Hanson, we have never encountered a candidate with such a high degree of genetic compatibility, it almost assures a successful joining!" The head of Council spoke. "With a need for temporal agents so great, you will indoctrinate him into the Accord"

Hanson nodded then ended the transmission, around him the room dissolved returning in appearance to his office.

* * *

John shepherd had grown up in a world of peace, a world of privilege. As a citizen of Earth, a pure human, he had grown up sheltered from the rest of the universe. Sitting at the heart of federation space, Earth knew nothing of war and strife for over a thousand years. John unlike his parents did not wish to be sheltered, instead he wanted intrigue, adventure, he wanted to explore new worlds, encounter alien civilizations like the explorers of old. As a child he would immerse himself in the history books, engrossed in the stories of Captain Archer, Captain Kir, Picard and Sisko, even the tales of Janeway filled in his mind, the concept of being flung across the galaxy into unknown space, and having to fight her way back to the federation, intrigued John.

It was for this reason that at the age of 18 John enlisted in Star fleet. He was well aware that the adventures of Starfleet officers in this day and age were nothing compared to those of officers in the early 22nd to late 31st centuries. The federation itself, had expanded its borders to encompass twelve galaxies, millions of civilizations living in harmony. Though exploration of space was a mandate of the federation since its inception, it now lacked the appeal it once held. There were no new mysteries, no new civilizations, they had seen it all, every new encounter revealed races that mirrored one previously explored.

* * *

John walked alone through the Presidia, a memorial to the great star ships of old. Three hundred hauls dawned the streets forever preserved in time. He came to a stop before the Enterprise, though the original had be destroyed in the battle over the Genesis planet, this ship had be salvaged and restored from its wreckage. The adventures of James T Kirk burned in his mind, those days of untamed exploration had lured him to Starfleet. John realized however, that in recent history only a few vessels did any real exploring, the majority of the fleet stayed within the boundaries of the federation, maintaining peace.

Lost in thought John failed to notice the arrival of another cadet, who came to a stop beside him.

"Beautiful ship isn't it" the soft feminine voice assailed his ears.

He turned to see Sarah, one of his few close friends at the Academy "It sure is" he replied staring into her bright green eyes.

She stepped around him, breaking his gaze and proceeded to touch one of the landing struts that supported the majestic vessel. "They don't make them like this anymore" she smiled.  
John stepped beside her and placed his hand on the smooth impure metal "No they don't" he smirked "Could you imagine piloting a vessel like this into the unknown, duranium polymers that could barely absorb a phaser strike yet alone a torpedo hit, shields that barely deserve the name, and weapons that couldn't destroy a modern shuttlecraft yet alone fend off an alien agressor"

Sarah smiled, in truth she would have been frightened to death to man such a fragile vessel. "No, I couldn't" she shook her head then turned to look into John's eyes, a secret burning deep within her, she had to tell him.

"John" she found herself saying "Did you manage to find out what ship you'll be posted on?"

John shook his head "No one can tell me, but I pray to god I get the enterprise" he looked up taking in the majesty of the ancient vessel.

"I've been meaning to tell you" she began "I received my ship assignment a few days ago"

John smiled a broad grin, excitement clearly in his eyes "What did you get!" he asked, enthused.

"The Enterprise"

There was silence for a few moments, John not knowing if he should be sad or happy about the assignment. On one hand it meant that his friend would be aboard the flag ship of the federation, and get a chance to really explore space. On the other hand, it meant that Enterprise assignments had been finalized, and he would not be chosen.

John reached out and hugged Sarah "congratulations" he whispered as she hugged him back.

Sarah smiled, relief clearly shown on her face.

"The Enterprise!" he shouted, startling people walking by.

"One of the only ships that still gets to explore!" he continued much quieter "I envy you, and the places and races you'll get to encounter"

Sarah looked up at the progenitor of her star ship "It still doesn't hold a candle to this ship and its explorations! We've been spoiled by phase jump drives, trans dimensional weapons, quantum shielding, we have flying fortresses where as they flew by the skin of their teeth"

John placed an arm around her and the pair returned to their admiration of the ancient vessel.

* * *

John stood on the command pad, suspended in space, looking around at his bridge officers. The bridge of a 45th century star ship looked very different from their ancestors. First of all, there were no seats, instead the platforms on which each officer stood held them within a gravitational field, not only relieving them of the pressure of standing, but ensuring that during a battle they did not get flung around the bridge. Control systems were another huge divergence in design, much of the technology was intuitive, able to read the thoughts of the controller and project information onto the consoles that were made of a crystalline material.

"Status report!" John ordered as a slight tremor passed through the ship.

"We have reached target coordinates, twenty three Benzin cruisers are firing on a federation transport" his helmsman replied as the encounter suddenly appeared on the main viewer.

"Raise shields, open hailing frequencies" He ordered just as a pair of Benzin battle cruisers began firing on his ship. The ship shuddered noticeably as the shields strained to absorb the impact.

"Deploy Armour, bring weapons to bare and target the lead ships, minimal power, we dont want to damage the transport... how are we going with the hail?" he ordered, a little angry that the Benzin would fire upon a federation starship.

"No response to hails captain, the majority of Benzin ships are continuing to fire on the transport, their shields will not hold for long" his tactical officer announced.

"Very well target the lead ships and fire DPB's!" John smiled slightly, the Benzin were a technologically inferior race, the DPB or dimensional phase beam, was capable of penetrating any known shield or armor. "make sure you only disable their ships"

To johns surprise the DPB's lanced out a struck the first 3 Benzin vessels, however instead of losing all power and stopping, they continued their bombardment of the transport.

"Sir DPB's are ineffective they must have found a way to shield against them. Half the ships have broken off their attack on the shuttle and are now firing on us" the ship shuddered as multiple impacts began to deplete the shields. John began to panic, this was wrong after all, the Benzin did not posses this level of technology, yet somehow they did.

"Target the lead Benzin ship full power to weapons system hit it with everything we got!" he barked.

The bridge crew stared at him stunned, at full power the ship possessed more than enough energy to annihilate a planet.

"Do it!" he yelled.

There were nods of affirmation as his orders were carried out. The full destructive force of his vessel bared down on the lead Benzin ship which shattered into a billion fragments, the explosion of which sent out an energy wave that consumed the remaining vessels and ultimately the transport they were there to save.

The bridge dissolved around him leaving him in the middle of his class room, his Vulcan Teacher staring intently at him.

"Interesting strategy" the Teacher mused arching an eyebrow "You effectively ended the encounter by obliterating your objective"

John turned to his classmates to see looks of shock on some of their faces and laughter on others.

Leaving the classroom a hand tapped John on the shoulder, he turned to find himself flanked by Daniel and Nigel on either side of him.  
"Good going there, I don't think anyone expected you to blow up the transport" Nigel smiled "Can I ask exactly what you were thinking?"

"I thought they had adapted to our weapons so I figured I'd hit them with enough fire power to drain their core, how was I supposed to know their ships couldn't take a full powered assault?"

"They're Benzin warships, their entire civilization is over two thousand years behind us technologically, why would you think they could take a full powered assault? "


	2. Chapter 2

"I didn't" John smirked with an evil grin then took off ahead of his stunned classmates.

* * *

It was finally time, the graduation ceremony was over and now all graduating cadets had gathered for the final speeches before official assignments were to be handed out. Taking his seat John looked out on the sea of students, over a thousand cadets anxiously waiting. On the main podium stood the Fleet Admiral flanked by several instructors and finally by a figure known by everyone in the Room.

"Do any of you know what ship you've been assigned?" Daniel spoke up, breaking John's concentration on the figure.

"No" he replied "But Sarah here got a posting on the Enterprise!"

"The Enterprise" Nigel gasped, "the most prestigious ship in the fleet and one of the only few to do any real exploring!"

"Congratulations" Daniel added "I got the Intrepid, almost as good, not as powerful but still built for exploration beyond the rim, Nigel my good man will be joining me"

"Wow, you all got great postings" John smiled "Congratulations guys"

"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure you'll get a good posting, If not you could always transfer to the dimensional intersections, I heard star fleets sending survey vessels to all sixteen of them" Nigel added.

"Nope, Starfleet scrapped that idea, seems the inhabitants are still a little angry at our dimension, considering what the Borg did to them I don't Blame them" Sarah stated flatly as the Fleet Admiral left the Podium, while the well known figure took center stage. "Anyone know what the Director of the Temporal Accord is doing here?"

Everyone shook their head.

"As all of you know, I am the director of the Temporal Accord. As you are aware very few people are indoctrinated into the Accord, and even fewer are chosen to be Time Agents and undergo the joining. Today it is my proud duty to inform you that one of you have been selected for a joining." The director announced.

"Lucky SOB whoever it is, all of time and space to play with!" Nigel commented.

"Lucky? I heard there's only a one percent chance of a successful joining" Sarah replied

"Who wouldn't take the one percent chance at complete control over time!" John remarked.

The Director stood patiently waiting for the sudden uproar of whispers to quite down. He then continued "John shepherd please rise"

Another wave of whispers spread through the auditorium, as John sat in shocked silence, stunned to hear the director utter his name. Sarah quickly nudged John causing him to stand.

The director looked upon the new inductee with a mixed sense of worry and happiness, worry that the new candidate was chosen in haste, yet happy that he could potentially become a prime agent. "John Shepherd, on behalf of the temporal accord I request that you undertake the joining. As a citizen of the federation you are aware that temporal agents are very few and far between, though you have the right to refuse the joining considering the risk involved, we ask that you accept this honour. "

There was silence for a few moments, the directors heart started to race at the thought that Shepherd would turn down the offer, he was relieved a few moments later as John replied "I accept". The director breathed a sigh of relief, behind him the crest of the Accord appeared, turning the Director grasped the holographic crest and threw it in the direction of John. Upon landing the crest shrunk then fused to John's uniform, replacing the insignia of Starfleet.

"Congratulations Temporal Agent John Shepherd, in two days you are directed to appear before the Temporal Accord whereby you will undergo the Joining. Until then I suggest you spend the time you have left getting your affairs in order"

John gasped as the insignia of the Accord fused into his uniform, all around him cheers erupted from the other cadets. Sarah turned to look him straight in the eyes "I guess now we know why you didn't receive a ship assignment. You're going to have more adventure than anyone could ever dream of" she leaned in and kissed John on the cheek "Just promise me that no matter how far away you go, you never forget where you came from"

"I promise" John replied.

* * *

The Loaded Hog was one of the most famous bars in all of Starfleet, it had been preserved for over two thousand years and had been the watering hole of Starfleet's bravest and finest, and right now it was playing host to the next generation of Starfleet officers.

John walked into the bar and up to the most ancient device in history, a 1960's jukebox. Its music had been updated over the centuries but the device itself was an antique. Fishing around in his pocket he picked up a replica of an ancient earth quarter and placed it into the machine causing it to come to life with music. All around cheers resounded. This was after all, the one place left on Earth that served real alcohol. John turned around and grabbed Sarah, dragging her into the dance floor. Nigel and Daniel who had flanked the pair walking in made their way to the bar and placed their drink orders, then quickly took up residence at a corner table.

"Can you believe it, the Temporal Accord" John sighed, turning Sarah around in his arms as he swung around the dance floor.

Sarah let loose a laugh as John picked her up and spun her around in mid air, She had to admit she had feelings for John, the pair having spent their entire academy years together, but in truth she was in love with Daniel. Unfortunately Daniel could not get a clue when it came to her advances. As John put her down she gently tapped him on the shoulder "I feel like a drink" she yelled.

John smiled and followed closely behind her as they made their way to the bar. "Four shots of Tequila, four long islands, 2 Budweiser classics, 2 Risa Sunbursts, and 2 double shots of jack!" John ordered.

"Well someone's getting hammered tonight!" Sarah smirked.

"Do you really think I'm undergoing a joining sober?" John shouted back as the bar tender placed their orders on a tray.

"A joining?" The bartender smiled "You're the cadet that got chosen for the joining!"

John smiled at the bartender and extended his hand "John, John Shepherd!"

"Good to meet you John, and good luck with the Joining. Here why don't you take a shot of this, you're not going to find anything like it anywhere else in the universe... well at least not in this time" he grinned pulling a suspicious looking bottle out from below the counter and pouring out four shot glasses.

"What is it?" John questioned, looking at the red liquid with curiosity.

"Rajardi Fire water, been extinct for ten thousand years" The bar tender stated proudly.

Sarah stared at the bottle questionably "How on Earth did you get a hold of that?"

The bartender edged closer to the pair who leaned in over the bar "Let's just say you aren't the only friend of a time agent" he whispered then winked at Sarah.

John picked up the tray and the pair made their way to the corner table Daniel and Nigel had saved for them.

"Damn it John, am I going to have to carry you home tonight?" Daniel moaned looking at the drinks.

"Give me a break, this could be my last night out" John replied with an innocent voice.

Everyone grabbed a hold of the firewater shots and quickly downed them. John held his breath as the firewater burned all the way down his throat then sighed in relief as the burning sensation gave way to a sweet silky indescribable sensation.

He opened his eyes and watched the others smiling as the initial burning sensation gave way to one of the most pleasant sensation he could ever feel.

"What the hell was that?" Daniel asked.

"Somethign called Rajardi Fire water" John replied.

"No no no, thats impossible, the Rajardi were wiped out over ten thousand years ago by the Voth!" Nigel gasped.

"Aparently the bartender over there knows a time agent"

"Well thank god i've never tasted anything so good before" Daniel interrupted before Nigel could say anything further "Time for the tequila!"

The four friends raised their shot glasses and downed the shot, biting down into sour lemons quickly after. "Damned that firewater makes even tequila taste like liquid goodness" Daniel promptly raised his budwiser in a toast.

"To friendship" he shouted as the others clinked their glasses "No matter where we go" he gestured towards Sarah "Or when we go" he gestured towards John "We will always have this bond" he downed the bottle while the others took sips from their own glasses. "Now let's get this party started!" he shouted abruptly standing up and heading over to the dance floor the others in tow.

* * *

It was late, very late, or early depending on how you looked at it, when the music began to die down and the crowd began to leave. John was absolutely drunk, whereas the others who were also drunk, were still sober enough to realize that morning was soon approaching. Nigel had disappeared a few hours earlier, following a beautiful yet extremely blue Andorian out of the bar.

"We better go" Daniel finally remarked as John slumped over the table.

"Here I'll help" Sarah replied, slinging one of Johns arms over her shoulder, while Daniel took the other.

"Computer, home please" Daniel asked, almost immediately followed by the hum of a transporter moving the threesome through space to the Academy dorms. Upon materializing Daniel threw John onto the bed and turned to Sarah.

"I guess it's time for bed" she smiled sheepishly at him.

Daniel leaned in and kissed her on the Cheek "Goodnight" he uttered just as she dissolved in the transporter beam.

Daniel then proceeded to pull off John's boots as he lay there in a drunken stupor, until John suddenly kicked him in the stomach causing him to fall backwards "John what the hell" he shouted.

John stirred then sat up looking down at the fallen Daniel "What happened to the party?" he questioned.

Daniel shook his head "Parties over, its time for bed" he reached up and grasped John's hand. John tugged pulling Daniel to his feet then fell over pulling Daniel back down on top of him.

Daniel sighed "Thank god this will be the last drunken stupor I'll have to deal with" he smirked staring into John's deep blue eyes.

"Come on, I'm not that bad" John replied leaning forward and kissing Daniel.

* * *

John awoke with a splitting headache, cursing the person who invented alcohol. Beside him Daniel lay silently asleep, John freaked out for a moment, not remembering what had transpired the night before. Slowly he slid out of bed and promptly fell over one of his boots. Daniel stirred in the bed looking up at John with a smile which quickly turned into a look of shock "What the hell am i doing in your bed?" he questioned "and why the hell are you naked?"

John frantically felt around the mess of clothing searching for something to wear, he spotted his shorts and quickly threw them on.

"Wait a minute, why the hell am I naked!" Daniel shouted, jumping out of bed wrapping himself in John's sheets.

"I don't know" John replied "I can't remember what happened last night!"

Daniel reached down and picked up his clothing, quickly throwing on his own pair of shorts "Okay well since neither of us know what happened, then nothing happened" he rationalized, then looked up at the clock. "Oh my god its almost 1100 hours, John you're going to be late for your joining!"

John looked up at the clock and freaked out, he dashed past Daniel and out the corridor making a b line for the sonic showers. He ran into a stall and activated the pad feeling relief as all the dirt, oil and outer layer of skin vaporized off his body. "computer, uniform" he ordered and felt the familiar buzz of replicated clothing fabricate itself around his body.

"Computer transport to Temporal Accord" he requested once he was sure his uniform was completely formed.

"Unable to comply, Temporal Accord is a security restricted zone, outside access by secure shuttlecraft only" the computer replied

John's heart sank, there was no way he could make it to the station in time for the joining, and just as he began to despair his body dissolved.

Emerging mere seconds later aboard the Temporal Accord John looked around in wonder. The station itself was massive, comprised of a doughnut shape and pure white haul it was easily recognizable from orbit. Inside it was the typical sterile white of federation starship design, but unlike starships the corridors were wide and the ceilings were twenty feet high.

"Welcome to the Temporal Accord" a voice startled John and he turned to find the Director.

"Director, thank you" he replied.

"We were worried that you would miss you joining after the celebration's you had last night" the Director smirked. The insignia permanently etched into John's uniform was also a tracking system designed to keep tabs on him.

"I'm sorry director, if I have done anything you might consider contradictory to the actions of a Temporal Agent" John apologized.

"Don't worry son, you had every right to enjoy yourself last night, considering the perils you face during the Joining. And anyway, who do you think keeps the bar stocked with such rare firewater" The director winked at John.

John smiled, he did not think the director would be such a friendly man, he had always seemed rather intimidating.

"Now please follow me" the director motioned and then walked towards an observation window on the inner ring of the station where the pulsing heart of the temporal core could be seen. High above the temporal core hovered a sleek vessel of Temporal Accord design, a time ship in layman's terms. These vessels were the culmination of Federation technology infused with energy from the Q continuum itself. It was the continuum's involvement that required the very specific genetic element in order to make the joining work.

A section of the observation window suddenly vanished as an atmospheric force field surrounded the station. A platform then materialized from the opening leading into the very core of the station as a pillar of light descended from the ship to intersect the core.

"It is time" the director announced.

John nodded, a rush of emotion flooding through him. He stepped out onto the platform and walked the very long distance toward the core. At the very edge of the core John stopped and looked up taking in the sight of being exposed to space. Several star ships had gathered forming around the opening, their observation ports filled with hungry eyes watching his every move. One of the starships stood out from the rest, it was huge, much larger than its predecessors. Across its surface blazed the immortal words USS ENTERPRISE NCC 1701V. Gone were the nacelles of old instead it had the saucer shape of the sovereign class starship but thirty times it's size and utilizing intergalactic drive technology.

John returned his attention to the core, he closed his eyes summoning all the courage he had left, and stepped into the core. At first there was pain, excruciating mind blowing pain but then it was gone as his consciousness separated from his body and pulsed up into the time ship. It was an odd sensation for John, he could feel the mind of the ship push against his own, at first it was as though it were fighting him, but then the sensation passed and he could feel the serenity of the vessel, it was alive, sentient and it was a part of him. Then another sensation over came him as feeling returned to him, but it was different. Instead of his standard sensations, sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste he could now feel the universe in all its complexity. It was simply indescribable.

He now looked down on the core with new understanding, the station, the ships in orbit, even the planet seemed small to him. John descended upon the platform yet found he had no legs, in fact his body was no longer his body. And then it came, the final merging of mind and body with metal and energy, he now understood the power of time and space, understood his new existence as neither man nor machine, yet both simultaneously. His metal skin melted away as he willed his mortal form into existence, and it was done, the merging was complete and now he was laying naked on the platform before billions of observers.

In a swift second John was swept away and into the temporal accord.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

"Greetings I am Ezri Dax-tar" the voice of a young female assaulted John's ears as he fought to regain consciousness. His eyes opened taking in the beauty of the young woman who stood before him. Turning around, John realized he was laying on a transport pad naked. As if sensing his shame a uniform materialized, clothing his body, summoned by the time ship that resided within his mind.

John stood up and nodded at the young lady "Nice to meet you" he smiled with a perplexed grin as his eyes trailed the spots down the side of her neck and mentally wondered how far down they go, sensing his thoughts the Time Ship responded by rendering sensor images of the naked woman to John's eyes. John blinked wondering for a moment why the woman had suddenly lost her clothing before realizing what the ship had done. He cleared his thoughts and immediately the sensor overlay dispersed clothing the young lady once again.

"Please follow me" Ezri asked then turned and headed down a long corridor, John stepping into stride beside her.

"So, miss Dax-Tar" he began

"Please call me Ezri" she interrupted "I will be your handler for the foreseeable future and it will make things go a lot smoother if we were on a first name basis"

"Okay Ezri, can I ask how long you've been working at the temporal Accord?" he asked.

Ezri paused for a moment and looked into John's bright blue eyes "Ezri Dax-Tar has worked for the Accord for two years now, however my symbiote, Dax-Tar, has worked here for almost three hundred years" she replied with a smile.

"Amazing, is joining with a symbiote anything like joining with a time ship?" he pressed.

Ezri shook her head "I have heard it being compared to a Trill Joining but I doubt it very much. As a trill you a joined with a symbiote that holds the collective knowledge and personalities of over a dozen individuals. The joining of a timeship however, is a joining of only two personalities, and one of those personalities is entirely artificial. Now please, follow me I must get you prepared for a temporal download" Ezri turned and continued walking with John in Tow.

"A temporal download?" John questioned as the rounded a corner to enter a very large dome shaped room with columns of light beaming down from the ceiling and people suspended within the columns as holographic images swept around them. "Wow" he stuttered at the sight as high above them the temporal observatory displayed fine lines of the time stream from the dawn of history to the present.

"This is the Observatory" Ezri announced leading John down through the maze of light columns to an empty space where a column should be. "Please stand on the platform, it will download the entire observatory into you"

John nodded his head and stepped onto the platform, almost immediately a column of light streamed down from above and the observatory began to spin as its lines streamed down and into the column of light. As the last of the time stream information entered John's mind he let out a terrible shout stunning everyone else in the room.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" he yelled uncontrollably.

The director startled by the outburst bound across the room to investigate.

"Whats wrong" Ezri asked placing a reassuring hand on John's shoulder. She then turned to the Director "Could something have gone wrong with the Joining?"

John looked up his eyes flashing a golden crimson "A storm is coming!"

The Director absorbed the information and turned to a Tech standing beside him "Activate the Temporal Shields, NOW!" he shouted

The Tech nodded and quickly ran back to his control console. As the shields came up the Alarms began to ring throughout the Observatory as columns of light began to blink out of existence. The parallel lines of normal time began to sway and swerve and collapse in on itself then finally turn red.

"We have a massive Temporal Storm propagating through the time line!" Someone called out from the bank of computer consoles situated between the now dwindling columns of light. "We're loosing temporal agents, they're being erased!" another voice shouted.

"Recall all Agents now!" the Director bellowed, just as the last of the columns disappeared leaving only the column that John had been standing in.

"We're too late sir, they're all gone!"

The Directors head dropped to his hands, in all existence only 57 time agents were active, 23 of whom he had a hand in creating. But they were gone now, all erased from time.

"Sir storm horizon in 27 seconds" a voice called out "All power diverted to temporal shields!"

The Director looked to John, he was now the only time Agent in all of existence. "Extend temporal shields around orbiting ship, everyone brace for impact"

The station shuddered as the storm swept through the station and into Earth, the once beautiful gleaming world turned into a dark brown and ghastly darkness. All around the damage could be felt as support beams fell from the ceilings crashing into the pristine white walls and floors. Outside the damage was considerably more visible as huge sections of the hull were torn off.

* * *

Aboard the Enterprise Sarah awoke to the smell of smoke and burning flesh. She could feel blood streaming down her arm and taste blood on her lips. Forcing herself to stand Sarah surveyed the bridge, she was horrified at what she saw. The entire bridge crew was dead, body parts were strewn across the floor, blood dripping from the ceiling. Sarah touched a control panel hoping to god that some systems were still operational. Holographic emergency display's flooded around her showing the full extent of the damage to the Enterprise, including the death toll of over 80 percent of the four thousand crew members.

"Bridge to anybody alive out there" she uttered while reaching for a medical kit stored behind a science console.

"This is the Director of the Accord, what is the status of your vessel" a voice flooded the airwaves.

"It is bad sir, eighty percent of the crew is dead, including the command staff. Weapons, shields, and armour are offline, life support is minimum, energy core is completely offline we're running on reserve power right now" she reported.

"Stand by Enterprise, I will divert repair crews to your ship as soon as we can spare them"

"Please, hurry" Sarah coughed as the com link died.

* * *

Back on the station the Director returned to his command console while tech frantically worked on bringing the projection system back online.

"We have a problem" a tech reported.

"you don't say" John replied sarcastically.

The tech shook his head "Its a big problem" He then grabbed something off his console and threw it up into the air above the others, immediately an image of Earth appeared. "I'm detecting 20 billion inhabitants, all Borg!"

Shock gripped everyone on the station, they were all wondering exactly how the Borg could have assimilated Earth, the answer appeared shortly afterwards as the observatory came online.

Ezri stood in the column of light that had fed john the time stream, she pulled up details on the time stream. "Temporal sensors are still online but faint, i've isolated the first point of divergence in this time stream, it occurs here in the 23rd century with the destruction of the USS Kelvin" Ezri states as she pulls the holographic image of the Kelvin and throws it into the air above the others, replacing that of Earth. "It precipitates a chain of events that leads to the destruction of Vulcan 25 years later, and the collapse of the federation soon afterward."  
"And without the federation there is no one to hold back the Borg from invading the Alpha Quadrant" the director finished.

"We have 7 Borg cubes on an intercept course sir, ETA 2 minutes, we also have over a hundred cubes on the planet powering up, ETA 21 minutes" the tech reported.

The Director turned to John "With the enterprise and the rest of the ships out of commission, you're our only hope, your time ship should be more than capable of dealing with the Borg!"

John nodded "I understand"

Closing his eyes John willed his body to phase, and in moments he found himself free falling through the station and out into space. Moments later his metallic skin emerged forming the familiar form of an Accord time ship.

Sleek and powerful John flew towards the heart of the seven Borg vessels and searched through his array of weapons for something that would be effective in this encounter. Choosing an arch weapon he targeted the first cube and fired, to his dismay the cube shattered into millions of fragments as the arch jumped from vessel to vessel reducing the ships to a conglomeration of twisted metal. John then focused on the planet and fired a particle disintegration pulse that swept through the surface of the planet tearing apart everything on the surface and reducing them to constituent atoms.

His work done John smiled inwardly, he had wanted excitement and adventure and this was about as exciting as you could get. He flew around the planet at near light speed then phased straight through the bulkhead of the station allowing his metal skin to melt away as he retook human form before the Director.

The director smiled at him "Good job" he remarked as Ezri completed her scans of the timeline.

"I believe that if we prevent the destruction of the Kelvin we may restore the timeline" she concluded.

The director nodded and turned to face John "You must go back, save the Kelvin, or at the very least save George Kirk, his wife and Son, they are pivotal points in the time stream that must remain intact! Also under no circumstances are you to break the Temporal Prime directive, is that clear!"

John nodded "yes sir"

"Ezri, do we have the core power to send him back?" The director questioned.

Ezri nodded "Yes sir, but after that the core will be completely drained"

"Do it" the director ordered.

Ezri's hand's passed through her holographic controls manipulating the time streams "I don't have an exact date on the destruction of the Kelvin so I am going to send you in two weeks before it is estimated to be destroyed. Time jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, JUMP"

Golden sparks of energy released from the core and engulfed John pushing him through the fabric of space and time.

* * *

Mere moments later John found himself materialized aboard the USS Kelvin, the ship was primitive in construction, more primitive than John could have imagined. He had found himself on the engineering deck and looked around to find a vast network of pipes and catwalks moving in every direction. He had always wondered how the ancient earthlings lived and worked aboard these flying mazes, as far as he could tell there was simply no logical design.

After wondering around for several minutes John located what appeared to be a computer terminal, he made a dash for it but stopped suddenly as another figure appeared.

"Can I get a hand over here" the figure called out. John nodded and made his way over to man and smiled as he recognized the face from his history books. "Captain Kirk, nice too meet you" he announced extending his hand.

Kirk looked at John with an amused expression "That would be Command Kirk, first officer, but give me a few years and I'm sure I'll make captain!" he smiled and shook the man's hand.

"how can I help you sir?" John questioned.

"Well first you can tell me your name" Kirk replied.

John nodded "Yes sorry sir, fresh out of the academy, my names John Shepherd, Ensign John Shepherd"

"Well Ensign welcome aboard, now if you wouldn't mind these are kind of heavy" Kirk replied pointing down at a crate.

John kneeled and lifted the crate with ease, his time ship enhanced body easily lifting the 400 pound crate.

"Jesus son are you insane? That crate must weigh four hundred pounds!" Kirk shouted startling John who dropped the crate on the ground causing it to spill its contents on the floor.

"Sorry sir, I guess I got a little ahead of myself!" John apologized picking up the cylindrical disks which he recognized as plasma couplings.

"Its okay, just be careful you don't want to get injured on your first tour, looks bad on your service record" Kirk smiled as he picked up the remaining plasma couplings. "You know what, engineering detail can get this later, how about we head up to Observatory and get a drink?"

John nodded in agreement and placed the remaining couplings into the crate.

As the pair passed by the computer access port John stopped for a moment "I just need to access something in the ships computer" he announced. Kirk nodded and stopped a few meters ahead of him, while John placed a hand on the computer port. Closing his eyes John decrypted and downloaded the entire computer core, then simultaneously uploaded his fake credentials into the computer network.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

The Observation Lounge reminded John of the Loaded Hog, there were pool tables, dart boards and music playing in the background. However there was a more homey feel to the place as instead of wooden tables there were plush couches and padded seats arranged in a more coffee house arrangement. The pair walked up to the bar and ordered drinks, unlike vessels of the 24th century onwards, they carried real alcoholic beverages rather than the synthihole John was used too.

"I'll have a jack and coke thanks" George Kirk ordered, then looked over to John "What'll you have ensign?"

"Um, I'll have the same" John replied smiling at one of his Idols. Though his son would become one of History's most famous explorers, George Kirk was also considered one of the most important captain's of the federation. His dealings with the Klingon Empire had laid the foundation of the Khitomer Accord.

John watched as the bar tender poured two glasses and placed them on the counter. Kirk then picked up the glasses and motioned for John to follow him. The pair made their way to a table overlooking the observation window from which the vastness of space could be seen.

Taking their seats, Kirk pushed a glass over to John who accepted it, he then raised his glass "To Space, the final frontier" Kirk smiled.

John raised his glass in acknowledgement "for now" he added silently then took a gulp of his drink, savouring the flavour of not just real Jack Daniels, but Coke made from real sugar, another luxury that the health conscious 45th century replicators had denied him.

"Look's like you really enjoy your drink" Kirk commented, fascinated by the indulgent look on John's face.

"It's just been a long time since I've tasted real sugar" John replied to a confused Kirk, "I was doing a body cleanse during my time at the academy, no sugar, no coffee no artificial toxins of any kind" John lied to cover up.

Kirk nodded "Well, I guess the cleanse is over?"

"Sure is" John remarked taking another swig of his drink.

"So my good man, where are you from?" Kirk probed.

John searched his mind for the historical records of Earth. In the 45th century Earth was covered in a singular city structure that spanned the globe. Geographical references were no longer used to designate place of origin. "I'm from California, a little town called Sacramento" he replied.

"Little town?" Kirk raised an eyebrow "Sacramento's got a population of over 3 million people doesn't it?"

John nodded "Considering the population of the major cities, I consider it a little town" he laughed.

"Well if that's the case I'm from the smallest village you've ever heard of" Kirk replied.

"You mean the state of Iowa" John chuckled garnering a raised eyebrow from Kirk

"Sorry sir, I read the bio's on the command staff before coming aboard" John replied. "Congratulations by the way"

"Congratulations?" Kirk replied

"Your wife, Winona, I understand she's due any day now" John explained.

Kirk smiled and nodded "Yup, we're expecting in 3 weeks"

"Your first child?" John questioned.

Kirk nodded again "Yes, though I'm not sure if I want them to remain aboard" he added.

This time John nodded "I understand, it would be difficult to make command decisions with your own families welfare at stake"

"I've been considering sending them home, but Winona refuses to let me miss the birth. It's the only reason she trekked half way across the sector in labour" Kirk grinned.

"Don't worry sir, they'll be fine, I promise you if anything, your son will one day become a great captain, and you'll be there to see the good he does for the federation" John stated, garnering a curious look from Kirk.

"My son?" Kirk thought to himself, Winona had decided not to know the sex of the baby before its birth, so why was this ensign referring to his child as his son?

John sensed the tension in the air, quickly he changed the subject "So have you ever had a showdown with the Klingons? I heard that there are two species of Klingons, one that looks vaguely like us and another that look like half breed stegosaurus."

Kirk laughed, rumours about the Klingons abound throughout the federation though very few people knew the truth. In the early twenty second century, a human scientist had created a genetically enhanced form of human, this had triggered the Eugenics war in which the augments where banished from the federation and genetic engineering on that level outlawed. What few people knew was that the doctor, captured by the Klingons, was forced into creating a race of Klingon Augments. Unfamiliar with Klingon DNA, he resorted to using human DNA, the result was disastrous. The Combined DNA created a virus which spread throughout much of the Klingon home world, incorporating human DNA into their genetic structure resulting in a Klingon species that looked vaguely human. The high council had withdrawn itself along with the majority of the ruling class families, leaving most interactions between the empire and the federation to their infected brothers. On rare occasions Klingon war birds of the un infected race had been encountered, sparking the rumours.

* * *

The first week flew by without incident, John had incorporated himself into the crew and he was enjoying it. The people of the 23rd century were very interesting, they were adventurous like himself, they craved exploration, longed for the unknown. His own people had become placid in their endeavours, a thousand years of peace and a level of technology light years beyond any other race in the known universe had tamed them. These were the days that John had longed for, in what seemed to be a life time ago, which in reality was little more than a week. He had assigned himself to the bridge crew as a junior ensign manning a science station.

At first the primitive nature of the ships sensors infuriated him, it's frequency spectrum limited in range, they could barely see anything more than a light year away with any clarity, twelve light years for the most basic of scans. Knowing very well that he shouldn't, john had incorporated minor subroutines in the sensor array increasing operational range and resolution by over 300 percent. He rationalized that he would need access to these sensors in order to prevent the destruction of the ship, in actuality he could simply have used his own internal sensors which were far more advanced than most 45th century star ships.

"Captain I am detecting a distress call from Sigma 5, It is from a federation outpost, they are being attacked by Klingons" the communications officer, lieutenant Gregory Hitchman announced. John had spent a lot of time getting to know his fellow crewmen, Hitchman had just transferred over from the Remington, a survivor of an engagement on the Klingon boarder. It had always been curious to John that Hithcman had chosen to return to a vessel bound for the Klingon boarder, after almost being killed only a weeks prior.

"On screen" The captain ordered as the image of a blue Female appeared on the forward window.

"This is commander Ni'jai of the federation outpost Sigma 5, to any vessel within range, we are under attack by a Klingon vessel, it is not responding to our hails. Our shields are failing, we require immediate assistance" The image stopped.

"It's repeating sir" Hitchman replied.

"Helm set a course for Sigma 5, maximum warp" The captain ordered.

"Aye captain, course set" Ensign Leigh Turan, a rather beautiful Trill, replied from the Helm "At warp 7.3, ETA in fourteen hours"

"Bridge to Engineering, can you give us anymore power, I doubt Sigma 5 has fourteen hours" The captain questioned.

"I'll try captain, but we're pushing the engines pretty hard with 7.3, though if I adjust the intermix flow regulators we may be able to push 7.6 for a few minutes" The engineer replied.

Kirk stood up and shook his head "Even at 7.6 It'll be at least 6 hours, the outpost will be destroyed and the Klingons gone by then" he announced.

John didn't like the idea, but he knew he could help. Accessing the Engineering computer network he began adjusting the intermix flow regulators while simultaneously realigning the main deflector to reshape the warp field into something less primitive.

Turan looked at her console in shock "Captain, we've accelerated to Warp 9.7, ETA in 3 minutes" She looked up in awe at the Captain.

"Good going Lieutenant Bester" The Captain smiled, still rather confused.

"Captain, it wasn't me" The Engineer replied "We've never broken the warp eight barrier yet alone catapulted past warp 9 before, I have no idea what the hell's going on!"

"We'll investigate once we've rescued Sigma 5" the Captain replied "For now, just keep an eye on the engines and make sure they don't explode"

"Aye captain" the engineer replied before terminating the link.

The Kelvin catapulted out of warp directly above sigma 5, the large star ship, housing well over a thousand people bore down on the much smaller Klingon vessel that was strafing the outpost.

"Open hailing frequencies!" the captain ordered

"Klingon Vessel, you are engaging in an act of War against the federation, stand down or be destroyed" he announced as the vessel turned its attention on the Kelvin firing pulses of green energy at the ship.

"Shields holding" Andrea's Tuval reported from tactical "Should I return fire?"

"Take it down" The captain ordered.

Phaser arrays all across the bow of the great ship erupted with deadly red beams plunging into the Klingon Vessel. At first the beams were harmlessly absorbed, but then the shields fluctuated and sections of the haul began to fragment. A round of torpedoes soon followed, tearing the ship apart.

As excitement filled the crew John quickly re-entered the computer system and undid the changes he had made to the engines. Expertly he covered up his tracks leaving no trace of what he had done.

"Hail the outpost" the captain ordered.

The blue visage of the Andorian female appeared on screen, her face drenched in blue blood as in the background major structural damage could be seen.

"Are you in need of assistance?" the captain asked.

"Thank you captain, the station has taken severe damage, we've got a lot of injured people down here!" she replied.

The captain nodded "they will be down there shortly, please stand by to receive emergency relief!"

The screen disappeared and the Captain turned to Kirk "Kirk, I want you to coordinate with medical and engineering, asses what they need and get it done"

"Aye sir" Kirk replied and headed towards the turbo life doors, he paused just before entering and turned to John "Shepherd you're with me" he announced.

John smiled then followed Kirk into the Turbo lift.

Kirk tapped on the control panel then turned to John "Ready for your first rescue mission?" he smiled.

John nodded his head "Yes sir" he replied.

"Good, I want you to head down to engineering, get a hold of Mr Bester and three of his staff then meet me at transporter room 2"

"Understood" John stated as the turbo lift came to a stop in front of the medical bay, John knew Kirk would take this time to speak with his wife. The doors closed and John programmed his destination in main Engineering.

Upon exiting the turbo lift John was greeted by a scene of mayhem, or at least controlled mayhem. All around engineers were running from core to core, while others had pulled scanning devices and moved along the Dilithium core room. "What's going on?" John asked a random technician.

"Besters gone crazy, he wants to know exactly how we broke not only the warp 8 barrier but the warp nine one too. He's got us scanning every inch of the core and nacelles" the tech replied before hurrying off to his assignments.

John approached the Chief engineer who was standing before a group of technicians.

"So what we do know is somehow the deflector interacted with the intermix chamber altering the configuration of the warp field to something that theoretically shouldn't exist!" the engineer was announcing as the image of the warp field filled a display.

"But that's impossible, the field geometry is unstable it should implode!" an engineer criticized.

"Sir" John interrupted "I've been sent by the first officer, he wants you and three technicians to accompany us down to Sigma five and asses their damage"

Bester looked away from the screen still seething with thoughts about higher dimensional physics. The revelation of this field design was something that could rewrite warp field mechanics, if it worked then more cores weren't the answer to faster speed, as they had thought, the Kelvin equipped with 12 congruent cores. All that space could be replaced with a single core capable of outputting a field geometry that was theoretically unstable yet practically capable of propelling a ship faster than anything had ever moved before. "Understood" he finally replied then picked out three engineer to accompany him to the surface.

* * *

A/N: okay guys so you may have noticed that hes already breaking the Temporal prime directive, which he is going to be doing alot, but you have to remeber hes a 22 year old fresh out of the acadamey excitement junkie, so there are going to be some major alterations to both the original and the new time lines.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

Sigma outpost had been built on a desolate moon orbiting Sigma 5, without an atmosphere, all that separated its inhabitants from the vacuum of space was a Duranium hull and very thin force field. The force field had done its job, for the most part, protecting the inhabitants from the merciless assault of the Klingons. The Duranium hull, on the other hand, had already begun to fracture, portions of the complex already exposed to space.

John materialized into a gruesome scene, all around him there were signs of structural collapse, fallen beams, and the most sickening stench of blood and burnt flesh.

"Spread out, search for survivors" Kirk ordered, "John you're with me, we have to get to the command center"

John nodded and the pair navigated their way through the maze of corridors. Kirk stopped before a computer console, quickly he brought up schematic's of the station and looked for the fastest route to the command center.

John shook his head "The main entry way is exposed to space, it looks like we'll have to climb up the secondary access shaft in order to access the command center" John announced from over Kirk's shoulder where he had been watching the floor plans unveil.

Kirk looked at the ensign with intrigue. John had been standing behind him while he was accessing the computer systems yet managed to find a route through the station that eluded even him. Little did Kirk know that John had already mapped the outpost using his own internal sensor array.

"Okay, let's get moving" Kirk ordered and made he was down a corridor. As they moved along a voice called out in the distance. Kirk took off in long strides racing to find an officer trapped beneath a fallen beam.

The officer looked at Kirk and John in panic.

"It's alright we're from the USS Kelvin, we've come to help" Kirk comforted the man while pulling a scanner from his belt and assessing the situation.

Kirk turned to John "His legs pinned, we're going to have to move the beam".

John nodded and picked up the edge of the beam easily pulling it several inches off the floor, more than enough room for Kirk to pull the officer free. Once free, Kirk pulled out his communicator "Kirk to Kelvin, Emergency medical transport, one to transport" he announced, then clicked his communicator shut as the Officer vanished in swirling white strands of energy.

"This way" John announced pointing towards a hatch in the distance "That should give us access to the shaft"

Kirk nodded and the pair made their way over to the hatch, and as John pulled the hatch open something picked at the corner of Kirks mind. He picked up the scanner and reviewed his scan of the fallen beam, noting that it was made of Duranium alloy weighing in excess of several hundred pounds, it also triggered the memory of his first encounter with the ensign where he had lifted a four hundred pound crate as if it were empty. For the moment he filed the information at the back of his thoughts, as the pair started to ascend the shaft, but promised he would investigate further.

As they exited the hatch they found themselves on the control deck of the outpost. There was a thick layer of smoke in the air, with burnt out consoles and shattered view screens littering the site. Thankfully the area was still structurally sound. At the center, slumped over a console they found commander Ni'Jai, copious amounts of blue blood streaming down her forehead.

"We have to get her back to the ship" Kirk stated with a panic, knowing the woman had very little time left.

John shook his head "The command center's armour is too dense we can't transport through it!"

Kirk picked up the blue alien and placed her over his shoulder "We're going to have to carry her down the shaft"

John nodded and moved to the hatch clearing the path as Kirk carefully made to follow him. At the hatch John stepped inside and grabbed a rail, gesturing for Kirk to pass the woman to him. Kirk complied and then followed the ensign down.

Half way down the shaft an explosion gripped the station, Kirk tried to hold on but lost his grip and fell, in those few seconds, time seemed to stop and he hung frozen in space yet still aware of what was going on. Then a hand reached out from above and grabbed a hold of his arm, it wretched upward pulling him along, and time sped up once again. Kirk looked on in amazement as John stood there, one had holding the ladder, the Andorian commander flung over his shoulder, and his free hand clutching his arm, holding up as though he weighed nothing at all. Kirk overcame the shock shortly afterwards as he was lifted back on to the ladder above John.

The pair then continued on down to the bottom of the shaft where Kirk quickly called for an emergency transport of the commander and slumped in the corner staring at John in awe.

"What are you?" Kirk questioned, not knowing what to think about this ensign who had so easily saved his life.

"I'm human, just like you" John explained to a disbelieving Kirk.

Kirk shook his head "No, no you're not. No human could do what you just did, even an augment would've broken a sweat"

John sighed, the temporal prime directive had stopped him from explaining his origins to Kirk, it had forced him to come up with this artificial personality, but there were some things that he just couldn't hide.

John looked into the brilliant blue eyes of the first officer "If I tell you, you must keep it between us!" he relented.

Kirk returned John's gaze "Okay"

"I am a time agent, I was sent back to prevent the destruction of the Kelvin, and more specifically protect you and your family" John stated with a seriousness that told Kirk he wasn't joking.

Kirk was stunned, Time travel had once been declared by the Vulcan science council as impossible, in recent decades however, research into wormholes and singularities had overturned their ruling.

Kirk thought back over the past week to his first encounter with John "You meant what you said, the first day we met. My son, my son is going to be a part of Starfleet history" Kirk stuttered. "I'm having a son!" he smiled as emotion filled him and tears welled up.

"Your son will usher in a new age for the federation, he will save it from certain destruction on more occasions than I can remember" John announced "And you will be the inspiration for his entire future".

A confused look came over Kirk as he strung the implications of a time agent and what should have been considered destiny, together "Then why are you here? Are you not risking altering the timeline just by being here?"

John shook his head "The timeline has been altered, in a few days the new timeline recorded the destruction of the Kelvin, and your own demise. It precipitated a chain of events that has destroyed my future, that is why I have come back, to save the Kelvin, and to save you"

Before another word could be spoken Lieutenant Bester rounded the corner and approached the exhausted first officer.

"Sir are you okay?" Bester questioned seeing signs of recent tears on the first officers face.

"I'm fine Chief" Kirk replied, composing himself as he stood up "report?"

"Aye sir, the last explosion came from the command deck, the reinforced ceiling collapsed blowing out power couplings in the upper section, you're lucky you got out when you did. Other than that the rest of the station is pretty much scrap metal at this point, I've put in a request to Starfleet for a construction barge to overhaul the entire station" he reported.

"What about survivors?" John questioned.

"We have twelve survivors in total, out of a crew of twenty three" Bester reported, "they've all been beamed up to the Kelvin, the Captain wants us back too, no sense in rummaging around an outpost that could collapse at any moment. And if you ask me, I wouldn't mind getting back to trying to figure out how the hell we jumped past warp nine"

"Away party to Kelvin, beam us up" Kirk ordered, as the white streams of energy formed Kirk looked deep into John's eyes, the revelation of what he said was burning deep inside him.

* * *

A day had passed since the rescue at the outpost; John had returned to duty and pulled a all night shift the day before. Kirk had taken the time to visit with his wife, meaning the pair did not cross paths, until today.

John woke up to the sound of the door chime, drowsy from a long night on the bridge he opened the door, forgetting that he was wearing nothing but shorts. He was then startled fully awake by Kirk who pushed his way into the ensigns quarters.

"We have to talk" Kirk demanded, sealing the door behind him and taking a seat on John's roommate's bed.

John walked over to his own bed accessing his internal wardrobe, his replica of 22nd century Starfleet uniform materialized on his bare skin, surprising Kirk.

"You really are from the future" Kirk stated sharply as John sat down opposite him.

John nodded in affirmation.

"Then tell me about it, what is the future like? Does the federation survive, does earth still exist?" Kirk pressed.

"I shouldn't be telling you anything about the future" John replied "We have something called the temporal prime directive, it prevents us from giving advanced knowledge to people in the past"

"You've already broken the directive!" Kirk pressed.

John sighed "And now I'm wishing I had not"

"Please I have to know, is this worth it, Is being a Starfleet officer worth sacrificing my time with my family?" Kirk questioned.

John looked at Kirk confused "I don't understand, how is this sacrificing time with your family? Your family is here with you!"

Kirk shook his head "After my child is born, son is born that is, Wynona is returning to Iowa, we're going to raise him on Earth. But If I'm in Starfleet I won't be there for him"

John smiled "In my time our history books are filled with the adventures of James Tiberius Kirk, his tales survive over twenty two hundred years! Walking down the Presidia of Starfleet the great star ships he commanded line its walk ways. His name will live forever, his legacy inspired by you!"

Kirk once again became overcome with emotion "Tell me about this future he will help create!"

John gave in. "The federation I come from spans twelve galaxies, it encompasses millions of species that have all come together in peace. There is no more war, no more strife, only harmony. I grew up on Earth though it is very different from your own Earth. The entire surface is covered by a single city that spans the horizon with gleaming towers that reach into the sky, 27 billion inhabitants living in harmony."

"Thank you" Kirk smiled, taking comfort in John's words.

* * *

The time horizon was fast approaching, soon the Kelvin would face mortal danger and John would have to intervene. The bridge was quite, and John had punched his sensor array as high as the technology would permit, yet there were no signs of anomalies out in the distance. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Kirk, he had warned Kirk of the approaching time horizon and the first officer had gone into danger mode, watching every system like a hawk. Kirk had agreed to wear a tracking chip, which was also placed on his wife just in case of an emergency.

As John's attention drifted he was snapped back to reality as an anomaly appeared on his sensor. It was a massive gravitational force, some kind of singularity. John instinctively knew this was the event that would shatter his future, so quickly he tried to hide the sensor reports, only to realize he was too late.

"Detecting gravitational anomaly at quadrants 312 by 186 distance thirty two light minutes" The helms officer announced.

"Plot course to investigate!" The captain ordered.

John immediately intervened "Sir, the gravitational signature points to a class 2 singularity which has been observed 137 times, I believe it would be a waste of resources and time investigating!"

"I agree sir" Kirk piped in.

The captain shook his head "I disagree, we're out here to explore and I for one haven't seen a class 2 singularity before. Stay your course helm"

John sighed, this wasn't going to be easy.

In minutes the Ship approached the anomaly which had already started to grow in size, however the closer they got the weaker John began to feel until suddenly he passed out, slumped over his console. Kirk noticed immediately and ran over to the fallen officer, "Medical, I need Medical on the bridge now!" he announced.

"Sir the Singularity is growing in size and I am detecting massive amounts chronoton radiation being emitted" the helmsman replied.

"Chronoton radiation? I didn't think our sensors could detect that" The captain stated puzzled.

"They can't" A second science officer replied "Apparently someone has upgraded our sensors"

Everyone suddenly stopped talking as a massive vessel began emerging from the singularity. It's shape reminded Kirk of a massive sea squid, yet made entirely out of a metal alloy.

"What is it?" the Captain gasped.

"Sensors are penetrating its hull, it appears to be a vessel of some kind, I am detecting multiple life signs, all Romulan" the science officer reported "It's firing torpedoes!" he yelled.

Kirk left the unconscious John and made his way back to his command console "I am tracking a torpedo at 320 degrees mark two"

"Evasive pattern delta five" the captain ordered as every weapons bank on the ship powered up and attempted to shoot down the incoming missiles to no avail. The first bombardment tore through the ship, ripping entire sections apart.

"Warp drive is offline, main power is at 38 percent" the chief engineer reported from the engine room.

"Are our shields even up?" Kirk yelled as another torpedo blew through sections of the ship.

"All remaining power to forward shields, prepare shuttles for evacuation!" the captain yelled. And then everything went quite as the assault halted, and a transmission came through.

"Hello, my commander request the presence of your captain in order to negotiate a cease fire, you will come aboard by shuttle craft, refusal would be unwise" the alien spoke before the link died.

The captain turned to Kirk "Walk with me" he ordered.

Kirk moved to follow his captain, as he was leaving the bridge he watched as a medical team surrounded the unconscious John. If this had been the moment John had returned to fix, then it would be up to Him to save John's future.

The pair walked the hallway heading towards a turbo lift, the captain turned to Kirk "If I don't come back in 15 minutes I want you to evacuate the ship, and use the Autopilot"  
Kirk nodded in affirmation, then turned back towards the bridge, passing the medical team as they took John down to the medical bay. Kirk stopped them "Take him to Medical shuttle 37, treat him there" he ordered.

"Understood" the medical officer responded and then headed off down the corridor.

Kirk re-entered the bridge, a sinking feeling deep in his stomach, this was where he would die, or at least where he would die if the future had its way.

The bridge grew silent as they watched the medical scans of their captain, anticipation building until finally the transmission went red indicating that the Captain had been killed. Immediately the alien vessel resumed firing on the ship. Kirk activated the weapons and issued an immediate evacuation. All around him the bridge grew abandoned their stations and made their way to the shuttles. Kirk reserved shuttle 37 for his wife and what he now knew would be his son. Her voice over the com link pained him, he wished he could comfort her, he wished he could be there for the birth of their son, to watch over the future that he would pioneer. But he couldn't, the autopilot had been destroyed, he had to remain on the bridge and buy them enough time to get clear of the alien ship. He prayed that saving his son would be enough to save the timeline.

With all the weapons fire that surrounded him Kirk knew only silence, the voice of his crying child filled the room, he smiled and tears of joy streamed down his face. Time froze for him and his mind wondered to the future that John had explained, his son's first day in the academy, his graduation, his first posting, his taking command of the Enterprise, his saving the world from ancient space probes, traveling through time to repopulate the whale species and save earth from yet another space probe. The genesis planet and his grandson's legacy, and finally his owns son's last act of bravery, saving an entire world from the exploding Sun of the Varidian system.

And then time resumed.


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

John stirred as his senses started to kick back in, but something was wrong, he wasn't on the bridge any longer. Opening his eyes all he could see was a blur, and then the world exploded as the sound of a women screaming filled the room. John sat straight up and looked over at the source of the screaming, it was Wynona, George's wife, a few moments later and he heard the sound of a baby crying. He smiled, the birth of James Tiberius Kirk, he had witnessed one of the most pivotal moments in history, and then it occurred to him, where was George?

He could hear the pair conversing but nowhere in sight was the man he had formed a friendship with. And then he realized, she was talking to him over the com link, he was still on the ship and it was about to collide with the Alien vessel. Summoning what little strength that remained John stood and dashed over to Wynona.

"Kirk!" he shouted over the com link.

Kirk, with fleeting seconds left heard the voice of John over the intercom, he was relieved that the man was alive "I'm sorry John, it was the only way. Take care of my son" Kirk uttered as the countdown to collision ticked down its final seconds.

"No" the stubborn voice replied "You have to live!" it shouted seeped in emotion "YOU ARE GOING TO LIVE" it finished as the countdown ticked to 1 second Kirk felt his body dissolve, but not from the impact, it was a transporter pulling him away from the doomed ship.

Kirk materialized a split second later standing next to his wife, who stared at him in stunned silence.

"How?" she whispered.

John looked to the couple, he knew they were not out of danger, his internal sensors had warned him that the singularity was expanding, and it had also revealed why.

"It doesn't matter how" John replied, visibly drained of energy "As far as history will know, you evacuated with you wife" he stuttered towards Kirk.

Kirk lunged towards him but John backed away raising a hand warding him off "No, It is not over"

As if in reply the pilot shouted back "The singularity is expanding, we're not going to out run it"

The couple looked at John with pain in their eyes, they realized he was about to do something that would cost him dearly.

"It is me, the singularity is feeding of my temporal energy. The only way to stop it is for me to dump my temporal core at the heart of the singularity and detonate it, sealing the breech in space and time" John stated.

Kirk nodded in acknowledgment, his wife streaming tears down her cheeks. John stumbled forward looking down upon the newborn child and gently kissing its forehead "I'm just glad that before I died, I got to see the birth of a legend" he smiled, then summoning the last of his remaining energy phased through the bulkhead. Kirk ran to the rear window and watched as John's metallic skin formed turning him into a sleek and powerful looking star ship. He placed a hand against the glass as the ship darted off towards the anomaly "Goodbye dear friend, you will not be forgotten" and in that instance a massive explosion filled the sky as the anomaly imploded, all signs of it and the alien vessel were gone, however in the distance Kirk couldn't help but notice tiny objects, no larger than a photon tube, drift away towards the Klingon boarder.

* * *

Neru Shouted in anger as the Federation ship moved towards his own, the anomaly had damaged his engines he couldn't move to evade and the vessel itself was already too close to destroy with torpedoes. He knew he would have to absorb the hit, transferring power from all systems to the structural integrity field and shields.

"Their shuttles are getting away" His first officer reported as the image of the federation shuttles floated before him.

"Let them go, concentrate on the Kelvin, we have to mitigate as much damage as possible" Neru ordered.

It was then that he felt the impact of the Kelvin, its collision doing more damage than anticipated. The ship shuddered and the sound of steel on steel reverberated throughout the ship. Neru watched the structural integrity monitor with sharp eyes as sections of the ship started to phase into the red spectrum. That would require much time to repair, however it mattered very little as he had twenty-five years to bring his vessel back up to full strength.

Spock, the name seethed within his mind, the traitor of Romulus. Spock and promised to extinguish the supernova that threatened Neru's home world, he had promised to bring red matter from Vulcan and extinguish the star before his world burned. But they were empty promises, empty promises that cost billions of lives. There was time, Romulus knew of the impending supernova for several months, they could've evacuated more than half the planet in that time. But no, they had put their trust in a Vulcan and paid for it with the lives of six billion people, including his wife and children.

Neru comforted himself on the thought that eventually he would have his revenge, he would capture Spock's helpless vessel, and make him watch as Vulcan was torn apart, he would then take revenge upon the federation that had sat by and did nothing as Romulus burned.

As his thought's diminished Red warning klaxons fired throughout the ship.

"What is happening?" Neru questioned.

"Another vessel just flew into the singularity, they detonated some kind of temporal energy its created a graviton wake that's tearing apart the ship. We have to evacuate now!"

Neru seethed with anger as the ship rocked violently. Already the arms of the ship were cracking, tearing into millions of pieces. Neru made his way to an escape pod and jumped in, cursing as it jettisoned away from the crumbling vessel, vowing to rebuild and return, after all he still had twenty five years.

* * *

Twelve years had passed since the destruction of the Kelvin, and time had continued, changed slightly because of its destruction, but still within the limits set forth by the Temporal accord, not enough to restore the timeline, not enough to trigger a temporal storm. In the vastness of space the body of John Shepherd floated motionless, the fleeting remnants of his reserve energy stores sustaining what little life he had left. Without his core he did not have enough power to summon his time ship into existence, however there was sufficient energy to sustain him within a stasis field, hoping for a one in a billion chance to be discovered.

And then it came, at first, in the distance it had not seen him or sensed his presence, but as it made its way toward the Klingon boarder, a blip appeared on the sensors of the USS Intrepid.

Captain Oliver King sat at the command watching intently as his vessel moved towards the unknown energy spike that had pinged his sensors.

"Visual?" Captain King requested.

"Entering visual range now" his helms man replied, as the image of a floating man appeared on the forward view screen.

"Is that a person?" Simon Baker, his first officer questioned.

"It looks like it" Kevin O'Neill, his science officer replied "However sensors are unable to penetrate the energy barrier surrounding him"

"Then he could be alive?" king replied "Can we beam him aboard?"

"Negative Captain, we cannot get a lock through the energy barrier" O'Neill answered

"What about a tractor beam? We could pull it into the shuttle bay?" Baker offered.

"Very well commander, I want you to take lead on this" the Captain ordered "O'Neill bring up all the information you can on the USS Kelvin, cross reference with facial recognition, that ship was destroyed less than a half a light year from here, he maybe one of the crew as he's wearing one of our uniforms!"

"Aye Captain" O'Neill replied, activating the subspace link to Earth in order to download the requested information.

"Helm, manoeuvre us within tractor range, I'm heading down to the shuttle bay" Baker ordered as he walked out of the bridge. "Baker to Wilson, Chief meet me in the shuttle bay, I want you to bring in the package!" he barked over the com system.

"Understood" Wilson, the chief engineer replied.

"Baker to medical, have Miss Torres meet us in the shuttle bay" he barked one last time as he stepped into the turbo lift.

Baker arrived at the shuttle bay a few minutes later, already commander Wilson was waiting for him, standing behind the controls for the tractor beam. The space doors had opened and off in the distance the body drifted barely visible this far away.

"Bring him in" Baker ordered, then watched as streams of blue energy lanced to capture the body.

It took almost two minutes to bring it in, but soon it floated to a stop right before the pair and touched down safely just as the beautiful Miss Torres, chief medical officer entered. She pulled out a scanner and aimed it at the still body.

Having detected a suitable atmosphere John's shielding dissolved leaving him vunerable to the medical officers scanners.

"He's alive" Torres stated, more than a little shocked.

"Can you wake him up?" Baker questioned.

"No need to, he's coming around now" Torres replied just as John's eyes flung open.

John awoke, startled by the sudden blinding light of everything around him. He searched his memories for any clue as to what had happened, his last memory being aboard the escaping shuttle. He pushed further, he hadn't managed to save the Kelvin but in the last fleeting seconds he had managed to transport George Kirk off the doomed vessel. But it must not have been enough, If time had been restored the Accord would have recalled him. And then he remembered, his core had been depleted, the energy bestowed upon him by the very continuum itself had been ripped from him by the singularity. Without it he could not travel the time stream, or even summon his time ship. What was worse, his emergency reserves were almost gone burned away over the twelve years in slumber.

"Can you hear me?" the voice broke John's train of thought, he turned to see the profile of a serenely beautiful woman.

John looked up into her deep brown eyes and smiled "Yes" he replied.

"You're okay, you're aboard the Intrepid" she smiled back at the handsome young man before her.

"Are you from the Kelvin?" Baker questioned, interrupting the couple.

John nodded "Yes".

"How did you survive?" Baker pressed.

"I do not know" John lied "But I must contact George Kirk Immediately"

"Then you're in Luck" Wilson interrupted "Captain Kirk commands the USS Constitution, we're rendezvousing with them in the Sigma system"

"The Sigma system is on the Klingon boarder, what is going on?" John pressed.

Torres raised her hand stopping the engineering from replying "Not right now I want to get you to sickbay and run a full diagnosis, you appear to have been in stasis, and considering the Kelvin was destroyed 12 years ago, you've been in there for a very long time"

Baker nodded "Very well"

* * *

On the bridge O'Neill had completed his research on the Kelvin. "Computer locate commander Baker" he requested as the screen before him changed to reveal the location of the first officer in sickbay. O'Neill rushed out of the bridge and made his way down to Sickbay where he encountered Captain King flanked by Commander Baker and Miss Torres.

"This just doesn't make sense" Torres announced as medical scans of John displayed on a massive view screen "You see stasis devices don't actually freeze a person, they simply slow down the metabolic processes, letting you sleep away years at the cost of about a tenth of that time span. However his scan's here are an exact match to the scan's from the Kelvin's medical database."

"And that's impossible?" the Captain questioned.

Torres nodded her head "These are genetic scans" the image changed to that of a DNA strand "the end here is a sort of tag, whenever a cell divides a portion of the tag is removed, it's how we age. Now his tags are completely intact, meaning his entire biological process at a genetic level was frozen over time, and that's just not possible"

"There was speculation that the singularity the Kelvin encountered was temporal in nature" Baker put in. "It's possible he was literally frozen in time?"

Torres nodded "That would be possible" she conceded.

The threesome suddenly noticed the arrival of O'Neill all turning their attention to him.

"Sorry to interrupt" O'Neill stuttered.

"What is it?" the Captain questioned.

"Well sir, after retrieving the data about Mr Shepherd from Starfleet's Archives, I did a little further investigating" he announced.

Baker nodded his head in O'Neill's direction "What did you find"

O'Neill placed his mobile tablet on the doctor's display causing the images to be replaced by a picture of a Starfleet graduating class. "Now this is Odd, I cross referenced his academic records against the Academy registrar, and though everything seemed in order I did notice a slight discrepancy in the coding matrix, it's a security encryption code that tells us the authenticity of Starfleet transcripts. It was a minor discrepancy for a single class he supposedly took that apparently had too many students. Anyway it was enough to peek my interest, so I ran a facial recognition pattern across all video achieves from Starfleet academy during his years of tenure, and there was nothing!"

"Nothing? How do you go through the academy without leaving any visual records?" Baker remarked.

"You don't, it's simply impossible" O'Neill pressed, expanding the visual images he had placed on the display "These are assembly and graduation video records, not only does he not appear on any of them, his name isn't called out. The only thing I can conclude is someone planted his entire history in the federation database, and did a really good job of covering their tracks"

"Understood" the Captain replied "Thank you Mr O'Neill"

O'Neill nodded slightly then left the medical bay.

"So, we have a Starfleet officer from the Kelvin who is apparently not a Starfleet officer" Torres announced.

"We're going to have to question him" Baker insisted "Doctor, do you have anything that would make him more receptive to our questions?"

The doctor nodded, since the days of sodium pentothal, there had been many advances in drugs that could force people to tell the truth. Though they were only used in rare occasions as they only worked on humans and most humans were part of the federation.

"Okay give him the shot" the Captain ordered.

"Aye captain" Torres replied and walked over to the drug dispenser, keying in her access code and retrieving a hypo spray. She walked over to John admiring his perfect slumbering form.

"Doctor, am I all right" John questioned, breaking her out of daze.

She nodded and approached the young man "Yes, I'm just going to give you a vitamin supplement, then I believe the Captain will have a few questions for you" she lied.

John nodded, sensing that something was wrong but not willing to do anything rash just yet, he conceded to the injection. Hypo spray's had come a long way since the 22nd century, in his time chemicals were sub-molecularly transported directly into the cell membranes of the entire body, the most effective and quick method of delivery. In this century however, they were injected into the neck in a rather painful stabbing feeling. John flinched, then breathed deeply, immediately knowing something was wrong as the world began to blur.

"What's going on?" He stammered as his eyes started to glaze over, while two more figures approached him.

"Mr Shepherd, we're just going to ask you a few questions, and we've given you something that will make you a little more receptive" the Voice of the Captain filled John's thoughts.

"No, you can't, you'll violate the prime directive" John stammered.

"The Prime directive?" Baker questioned "But you're human!"

John nodded "Yes I am"

"It's starting to affect him, you've got about 20 minutes to ask your questions before he passes out" Torres remarked.

"Who are you?" Baker pressed.

"John Shepherd" John replied.

"Were you aboard the Kelvin?"

"Yes"

"Did you graduate Starfleet command on star date 223704?" The Captain pressed.

"No" John replied.

"Then your records are fake, you never graduated the academy!" Baker yelled, more than a little angry that someone had managed to cheat their way onto a star ship posting.

"I did graduate the academy" John answered.

Baker paused and looked at the man with confusion.

"If you graduated the academy, then why did you plant a fake record?" Torres questioned this time.

"Because, I needed access to the Kelvin, and my academy record does not exist... yet" John answered.

"Yet? What the hell does that mean?" The Captain pressed.

John shook his head struggling against the drug "I cannot tell you, I cannot violate the prime directive!" his body began to convulse as warnings started to blaze on his monitors.

"I have to sedate him, his blood pressures going through the roof, I've never seen anyone fight so hard" She yelled as she ran for another spray.

Baker reached out a hand and stopped her before she could inject him "No, not yet!"  
"But sir, he could die" She protested.

"Why do your records not exist yet" Baker pressed.

John's face began to turn red as his entire body shook violently, he was fighting as hard as he could.

"WHY!" Baker shouted

John deflated "Because I will not be born for another twenty two hundred years" he passed out leaving the others in shocked silence.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

"Will he survive?" Captain King asked, watching as several nurses gathered around John's lifeless body as they prepared him for surgery.

Dr Torres shook her head "I don't know, the damage is significant, the blood pressure spike caused massive cerebral haemorrhaging. Even if he does survive, I can't guarantee he'll even know who he is."

Commander Baker looked to the captain "You don't believe what he said do you? A time traveler from two thousand years in the future?"

"I don't know what to believe" the Captain replied "All I do know is you violated the ethical code of conduct by stopping the Doctor"

Baker shook his head "We had to know where he was from" he defended.

The Captain turned to look at John's still body "And in so doing, you may have killed him"

Dr Torres looked at the first officer sharply "If he survives, I think it would be best if you stay away from him" she stated flatly then turned to enter the operating room.

In the operating theatre Torres looked down on the freshly shaven head of John Shepherd, she had honestly believed the drug was safe.

"Computer, activate imager" she ordered as several panels of glass descended around her on which detailed real time images of John's head appeared.

"It's a mess" a nurse commented, taken aback by the amount of damage to his vascular system.

"Let's get started" Torres announced, then picked up a scalpel and began cutting into John's skull.

As the hours of tedious operation drew by, a perplexed look came over the doctor. Every few seconds damaged blood vessels would suddenly be repaired before she had a chance to reach them.

"Did you see that" she uttered to a nurse, pointing up at the imager.

"That's impossible" the nurse replied as yet another blood vessel mended itself.

"What the hell is going on?" Torres questioned "Computer Zoom in on quadrant b7 and magnify, maximum resolution" she ordered.

To her surprise the designated quadrant appeared, teaming with thousands of anomalous objects that appeared as pin prick dots at the very edge of the sensors resolution ability.

"What are those?" a nurse asked, clearly shocked.

"I'm not sure but I believe they're repairing the damage to his blood vessels" Torres replied "I'm going to extract a sample" she finished as she removed a specimen.

"Get this to the science lab, I want to know exactly what it is, and notify the Captain he may want to see the results" she ordered, handing the container over to a nurse.

"Doctor look at the scans" Another nurse gaped in awe.  
Torres turned to see what was going on and to her surprise there was absolutely no more signs of damage to the patient. In fact, her original incision had miraculously sealed and hair had already begun to re-grow. "That's impossible" she gasped.

* * *

At first Ensign George Blake was annoyed by the intrusion of a nurse, into his perfectly sterile lab, but now he was simply intrigued. The object of his intrigue was the specimen the nurse had brought in. At first he assumed it would be another virus needing classification but what appeared before him now was simply amazing. Amazing in that it could not possibly exist, and now he had to explain its existence to the captain, first officer and chief medical officer.

"What is it?" Captain King questioned, watching the Ensign pour over numerous scans of the sample.

"Its transient nano technology on a scale I have never seen before!" Blake replied, pulling up as detailed an image as he could.

"Nano tech? Why couldn't we see them before on his previous medical scans?" Torres questioned.

"The nanites are built on a subatomic scale, I had to use a trans luminal Electron scanner just pull up this image of them" Blake replied pointing to the display which revealed a very blurry star like object. "They must have only begun multiplying when he was injured which is why it took several hours for them to begin the repairs" he concluded.

"Wait a minute, how can you build a nanite smaller than an atom?" Commander Baker questioned.

"Well, you can't!" Blake replied "we've had nanite technology for several decades now, but they're built atom by atom from the ground up, you can't have a machine smaller than an atom because, well what would it be made of?'

"Then how do these exist?" Torres asked.

"They can't, why do you think I'm so excited, these nanites defy the very laws of physics. Defiantly not federation technology, hell whatever race built these things are light years beyond us" Blake explained.

"I guess this supports his claim" Torres noted.

The Captain nodded his head "Ensign Blake, I want you to destroy the sample and any scans you've made of it. I want your notes and any logs deleted" the captain ordered.

"But sir, this is a find of a life time, if we could analyze this technology it would advance not only our quantum sciences but our metallurgical sciences by centuries" Blake protested.

"It is technology that could tip the balance of power in the Galaxy, technology that we should not posses yet" The Captain argued "We've done something terribly wrong here. He tried to warn us about their Prime directive, which I have to assume is designed to prevent just what could happen here"

"Sir, that technology could give the federation an edge against any number of enemies" Commander Baker interrupted "We shouldn't simply ignore it"

"No, those are my orders, carry them out" The Captain shouted, then turned his attention to the Doctor "I want to be notified the moment he wakes up, and I want all your medical records wiped as well"

Torres nodded "Aye captain"

The captain stormed out of the lab.

"This is a mistake" Baker stated.

Torres looked at the man with a mixture of anger and frustration in her eyes "He's the Captain, you have to follow his orders" she stated, then also left the lab.

Blake shook his head looking at the most marvellous piece of technology he had ever seen. "Computer, permanently erase all entries and scan's pertaining to sample 74332" he ordered.

"Erasure confirmed" the computer replied as all the results and images vanished. He then turned to the sample that was sitting on his desk and quietly placed it in the incinerator.

* * *

"Status of the fleet?" George Kirk questioned from the Captain's seat of the USS Constitution, the very first of her class of star ship.

"We have 47 ships, awaiting the arrival of the USS Intrepid and the USS Melbourne, ETA twenty seven minutes on the Intrepid, and two hours on the Melbourne" Henrik Dak"Kar reported from the helm.

"Two hours? What's taking them so long?" Kirk pressed.

"They have reported a malfunction in their warp core limiting them to warp 2.4" Dak'Kar reported.

Kirk nodded his head.

He had become extremely anxious over the past three days, having been reading reports on Klingon fleet mobilizations during that time. The Sigma outpost had been refitted with deep space sensors 12 years ago, allowing the federation to more easily track the movement of Klingon vessels. Recently it had detected a massive build up of over eighty ships on the edge of federation space. It was because of this that the federation had ordered their own mobilization in the Sigma system.

"What's the status of the Klingon fleet" He questioned.

"They are still on an intercept course with sigma station but are traveling at only warp 2, at that speed it will take them one hour and seven minutes to reach us" The science officer reported.

"Sir we are being hailed by the Intrepid, it is Captain King, he wishes to speak with you in private" Alora, the communications officer reported.

"Understood, I'll take it in my ready room" Kirk replied, then made his way through to his personal ready room.

Sitting down Kirk activated his communications screen causing the image of Captain King to flash into view.

"Good day" Captain King stated with a smile.

"Good day to you too Captain" Kirk replied "I understand you're taking your time getting here, you might just miss all the fun" he joked.

"Actually that is why I wanted to talk to you personally" King replied in a serious tone. "Captain you were aboard the USS Kelvin where you not?"

Kirk closed his eyes, the images from all those years ago flooding back into his mind. In truth there had not been a day that had gone by whereby Kirk had not thought of Shepherd and the sacrifice he made. Flashes of his fleeting seconds aboard the Kelvin before John saved him still etched in his thoughts.

"I'm sorry Captain, I'm sure you lost some very good people aboard that ship" King interrupted "I just have a question about one in particular" he pressed.

Kirk looked at him surprised "Who?"

"Did you happen to know an ensign John Shepherd?"

The name burned into Kirk's soul, as thousands of questions started to form in his head.

Kirk nodded "Yes, in fact I would not be here if it were not for him, he saved my life" he replied honestly.

"Well then Captain, I have something to report which I will not officially post to Starfleet command" King replied. "Eight hours ago on route to rendezvous with the fleet we detected an energy signature in the vicinity of sector 00132, approximately half a light year from where the Kelvin was destroyed. Upon further investigation we discovered a body floating in space, dressed in one of our uniforms, we later positively identified it as ensign John Shepherd last posted aboard the USS Kelvin!"

Kirk gasped "You found his body?" he pressed.

"That's where it gets a bit complicated Captain, you see the energy field was in fact some sort of stasis field, he was very much alive when we brought him aboard" King explained

Kirk's heart raced, after all this time John was still alive.

"Captain I want him transported aboard my vessel the moment you arrive" Kirk ordered.

King nodded "Aye captain, and do not worry I have taken steps to ensure that the prime directive is preserved on this account".

Kirk nodded, and then ended the transmission.

His head fell into his arms as guilt suddenly overcame him. Why had he not gone back, why had he not searched for John? The questions burning into him like liquid fire. He was alive, had been alive all this time and Kirk had abandoned him.

* * *

As the Intrepid joined the fleet Kirk stormed onto his bridge "The Intrepid is transporting someone over, I want him beamed into my ready room" he ordered then stormed back out.

The seconds passed and with each passing moment anticipation flooded through Kirk, and then it came, the familiar whine of the transporter.

Kirk looked upon his friend with shocked silence, he looked exactly as he did those many years ago. He ran forward and hugged John in a vice grip threatening to never let go. "I'm sorry" he cried "I'm so sorry"

John accepted the embrace, to him it had only been hour's since their last meeting, but unlike him time had not forgotten his friend. He had the halo of age and experience about him, which made his tear filled face look out of place. "Why are you sorry?" he asked.

"I should have come back, I should have searched for you" he replied, loosening his grip.

John stepped back shaking his head "No, you did the right thing, thanks to Captain King I've read your biography, all the things you've accomplished, all the places you've visited. You've done what I asked you to do, you've become and inspiration for your son."

Kirk nodded, comforted by the statement.

"Now we need to talk about why you're out here? As far as I knew there wasn't any sort of confrontation out here in the Sigma system between the federation and Klingon Empire, at least not until the Klingon war of 2267" John stated.

Kirk shook his head "Sigma outpost has detected a massive fleet of Klingon ships bound for this system"

John starred at Kirk for a moment before looking inward to his own sensors. With very little energy powering his technological self he was limited to what systems he could use. Thankfully he had sufficient power to operate his sensors, albeit at very lower power levels, they were still far more powerful than the Sigma sensors.

John shook his head as the information regarding the Klingon fleet came through "No, this isn't right, those ships are using technology that should not exist yet" he stated. "Kirk you have to go, you have to leave this system now, they will easily lay waste to the fleet!" he urged.

Kirk looked to his friend whom time had forgotten, his deep blue eyes mirrored his own, but unlike his, John's eyes betrayed fear. "We cannot leave, the rest of the fleet is engaged in the Ioda system, If we don't stop the Klingon's here, and now, there will be nothing to stop them from taking Earth!" he replied.

John nodded, his mind blazing at the speed of light searching for a way to protect the federation. He did not have access to his weaponry, shields or even transporters, but he did have access to Kirk's technology, and suddenly John realized what he must do.

* * *

Nero knelt in the dark room, chained to the floor like a common prisoner. He sighed, the time was soon approaching, 13 more years and he would have his revenge, but until then he had to keep up his end of a deal that had cost him dearly. Over half his crew had been killed when his vessel exploded, those that survived drifted on for days. It was then that there pods were captured by a Klingon battle cruiser and a third of the survivors killed for sport. Nero saw no other way to survive, so he had entered into a Deal with the Klingons. In return for technology, their lives would be spared, and a promise that on the 25th year of their servitude they would be given a ship and aide in capturing the Vulcan ambassador. So little by little Nero and his crew began to upgrade the Klingon ships, giving them technology that would change the balance of power in the quadrant. And now, after twelve years, the Klingons believed it was time to strike at the federation and bring it to their knees.

* * *

"I need access to the computer network of all your ships, now!" John spoke, within his mind blueprints already started to form.

Kirk nodded, "Come with me" and the pair exited the ready room and entered the bridge.

"There" Kirk pointed at a nearby science station.

John smiled "It will do, but you might want to warn the other captains, there's going to be a bit of a light show!"

Kirk smiled "Bridge to all ships in the fleet. A few minutes ago we received telemetry indicating that the Klingon vessels headed this way are not playing by the same rules as us. In a few seconds you will notice a computer intrusion, do not resist, we are going to be levelling the playing field"

The bridge crew turned to their captain stunned by the announcement.

"Sir, what is going on?" Commander Henry Wilkins, his first officer questioned "and who is this"

"It's okay Henry, he's an old friend of mine, and I trust him with my life" Kirk replied as John took a seat at the science station and closed his eyes, placing a hand on the technology creating a link between his own computer and the rest of the fleet.

Immediately red warning klaxons blazed throughout the ship "Sir I'm detecting a computer intrusion, its accessing transporters, power flow regulators, more than half the ships systems" Dak'Kar reported from the helm.

"It's okay, don't worry" Kirk replied.

"Sir all ships are reading the same infiltra..." Elora Daneeze, the ships communications officer broke off as the ship became encased in a halo of white swirling energy, the same energy field used by the transporters.

* * *

Captain King looked out of his view screen at the constitution class vessel which had become consumed by a massive transporter looking beam "What the hell is going on over there!" he shouted.

"Somehow they've managed to combine the transporting power of the entire fleet and focus it on the one ship, bulkheads are dematerializing and being reconfigured at the sub atomic leve, the internal configuration of the vessel is changing, but life signs are remaining constant... Sir its spreading to the USS Orion" His science officer reported as white whisps of energy started to engulf yet another starship.

* * *

"These readings cannot be possible" Dak'Kar shouted through the whine of the transporter "I'm reading a power increase of over twelve hundred percent from the warp core".

John ignored the words of the bridge crew as he continued to design new ship designs for every ship in the fleet. He had Less than 30 minutes until the arrival of the Klingons and he would need every second.

Outside the Constitution began to change visibly, its hob coble designed haul became reinforced with alloy's that had not been invented yet. The phaser turrets replaced with phaser strips a thousand times more powerful than their predecessors. Photon torpedoes replaced with their quantum and tri cobalt counter parts. Soon the Constitution would give a 24th century vessel a run for its money, and soon the rest of the fleet would be advanced enough to lay waste to the Klingon fleet.

* * *

Dura's seethed aboard his battle cruiser, as his fleet hurtled toward the federation boarders. They had limited their speed to warp 2 in order to surprise the human fleet with their advanced technology. Right now however Dura's watched his long range sensors as massive energy spikes had engulfed a number of the federation ships. As the energy spikes dissipated his sensors could no longer scan with their hauls only taunt him with energy readings more powerful than his own.

"Bring me Nero, NOW" he bellowed to a subordinate who quickly left his sight to carry out his orders.

Dura's shook his head, the victory over the federation would bring him honour, enough to make a play for the leadership of the empire, a seat he coveted very much. He had been fortunate all those years ago, his vessel barely functional, his crew on the verge of mutiny, when the cowardly Romulan distress signals had been detected. At first he had allowed the Romulans to be tortured and killed for sport, that was until he had uncovered their secrets from the database of their escape bods. They were from the future.

He had then entered into a bargain with their leader, and from then on the Romulan's, under his thumb, began to upgrade his ships technology.

His train of thoughts were broken as Nero entered the bridge, the Romulan bound in chains and half dragged into his presence.

"Explain!" Dura's bellowed pointing to the view screen.

Nero stared intently at the image shaking his head "I do not know"

The guard dragged Nero over to a science station where sensor displays appeared. Nero shook his head once again "This is impossible" he shouted "The federation do not have this technology"!

Dura's bound across the bridge and struck Nero, sending him sprawling across the floor. "You did this, there are more of your kind are there not? Selling their technological secrets to the federation!"

Nero regained his composure and starred the captain in the eyes "NO!" He yelled "Even we do not have the technology to upgrade star ships within minutes, but maybe..." his voice trailed.

"Maybe what!" Dura's shouted.

"There were stories among my people, about temporal agents seeded throughout time to keep the balance of power in the galaxy stable. Over the years I have replayed the events of the demise of my vessel over and over, the singularity expanded the only way that would be possible is if it were feeding of a vast compatible energy source. And when it exploded we detected the detonation of Temporal energy, there must have been a temporal agent aboard the Kelvin, it is probably he who has upgraded the Federation fleet, to balance the power in this system" Nero explained.

Dura's turned to the Romulan, a smile spreading across his face "Then this agents technology would be far superior to your own?" he questioned.

The Romulan nodded "yes"

"If that is true then we would be no match for those ships!" Dura's spoke "However, only 4 of the vessels have completed the change so far" he turned to his helmsman "Jump the fleet to maximum warp, we will strike now, and capture this time agent.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

John pulled his hand back away from his console causing the whirling energy of the transporter around the Intrepid to vanish.

"What's wrong" Kirk questioned.

"They've jumped to warp 8, they will be here any second" John replied staring at the view screen that now displayed tracking information on the Klingon fleet.

Kirk retook his seat and punched up the fleet wide communications channel "All ships, the Klingons have advanced their ETA, they will be here in 32 seconds. USS Orion, USS New York, and USS Titan, upgrades to your vessels have been completed, you will provide cover fire for the rest of the fleet. USS Intrepid, USS Nagala, USS Grissom, USS Long Island and USS Providence, your ships have only been partially upgraded, watch your back. All other vessels coordinate with tactical command on each of the upgraded ships, ensure you maintain maximum evasive manoeuvres, the Klingons are going to be pfacking a punch you won't be able to handle!" he announced.

Immediately the 48 vessels of the fleet moved into formation, the recently upgraded star ships taking point while the remaining ships fell back behind their powerful brothers, relegated to evasive patterns yet keeping within phaser strike range.

And then it started, a battle like no other as over eighty Klingon war birds warped into the battle field and opened fire without warning. For a moment they were startled as federation star ships absorbed their fire harmlessly, fire that would've vaporized any other star ship.

Kirk watched the opening salvo from his command chair more than a little anxious about the coming battle. The ship shuddered as the first wave lanced out and struck his ship dead on.

Dak'Kar looked at his readings in disbelief "Sir they hit us with torpedoes carrying a yield of forty isotones, the shields absorbed them with minimal power drain!" he announced to a stunned crew.

A smile stretched across Kirk's face, the Klingons thought they would easily slaughter the Federation ships, but now they were going to have to pay for their arrogance. "Power up phaser turrets, return fire!" he ordered.

Kilong Najari, the tactical officer looked at his control panel with confusion, the firing interface had remained the same but the weapons they controlled had changed. "Captain, the phase turrets have been replaced with phaser strips, I'm powering them up now but have no idea what their effectiveness will be" he announced.

Moments later their effectiveness was proven as hot red beams of energy lanced out striking several Klingon vessel's head on. Without need of a physical turret, target acquisition was virtually instantaneous allowing him to strike multiple targets within a fraction of a second of each other.

Across the battle field the four primary vessels took the brunt of the Klingons wrath while the remaining star ships stayed at maximum range launching volley after volley of torpedo fire at ships that shields had been taken down by the primary vessel's phasers. Carnage soon followed as Klingon cruisers began to blink out of existence in miniature suns.

However, it did not take long for the Klingons to adapt, they soon realized the rear vessels were un protected and began darting past the lead ships. One by one the federation ships began to dwindle, vaporizing under the impact of torpedoes that would not exist for over a hundred years.

"Sir we've lost 7 ships, another 23 are crippled, Over half the Klingon fleet is still intact!" Dak'kar announced as another Klingon vessel disappeared in a plume of plasma.

"Shields are down to 32 percent, captain their concentrating their fire on us we won't last much longer" the First officer shouted as another volley of deadly torpedoes struck the ship rattling it.

John stood from his science station and came to stand next to the captain "Well just deploy the armour" he announced to a confused bridge.

"Armour?" Dak'Kar questioned, "What armour"

"Computer deploy armour!" John ordered. Soon afterwards the sound of metal expanding filled the bridge. Outside the Klingon cruisers paused in shocked silence as the Constitution became encased in Ablative armour.

* * *

"What is that!" Dura's yelled at Nero who stood transfixed on the Constitution with Dark seething eyes.

The source of the armour technology was well known to the Romulan Empire, it had come from the future, merely 14 years by his time, but still designed to take on the Borg. He knew that if the federation were given not only the armour technology but the weapons, there was no way the Klingons would survive this engagement.

Nero shook his head "Recall your fleet, you must retreat now!"

Dura's shouted in fury "NOOOO, we are Klingons we do not retreat!"

Nero looked the captain straight in the eyes "Then you will die!"

Dura's thundered over to the Romulan and struck him, the impact throwing Nero to the ground, his face dripping with green blood "Explain" Dura's drew his blade "Or die"

"It is ablative armour, technology from the 25th century designed to fight the Borg, Nothing you have, nothing my people posses is capable of penetrating that armour. And if they have the armour then they must also posses the weapons, they will extinguish your cruisers one by one with a single shot" Nero replied, anger burning within him.

Just then the ship rocked as streams of deadly energy followed by quantum torpedoes from the USS Orion struck it dead on. Consoles exploded filling the bridge with smoke and debris, Dura's himself stumbling over. In that moment Nero took his chance, he grabbed the blade from Dura's hand and plunged it into his heart. The Klingons eyes filled with shock then glazed over as his body fell to the ground. An officer took note of his Captain's demise and pulled a disrupter, but much too late, Nero had pulled the blade from the Captains chest and flung it at the Officer, he then retrieved the captains disrupter and ended the existence of the remaining bridge crew who were distracted by the exploding conduits and smoke to realize what had happened. From the bridge Nero accessed the ships computer and locked it down, he then accessed the transporters and released his men from captivity. Then he locked onto the remaining Klingons transporting them all out into space. His final act powering up the warp drive and warping free of the battle.

* * *

"Sir one of the Klingon vessels have just jumped to warp, the remaining are powering up their warp engines, it looks like they are retreating" Dak'kar reported.

Evan shook his head "No, you can't let them get away, not with that technology!" he replied pushing aside the helmsman and taking control of the ships main deflector. He quickly charged the device and sent a burst of energy that encompassed the Klingon fleet preventing them from warping away.

"Sir, the Klingon ships warp drive's are offline" the first officer announced.

Kirk nodded his head "Okay, we need to end this soon"

John looked at the captain and nodded "Power up the trans phasic torpedoes, one torpedo per ship will destroy them" he announced.

"One torpedo?" the first officer questioned.

"Do it" the captain ordered.

In seconds it was done, the forward ablative sections of the ship vanished to reveal the torpedo launches. From it fired continuous streams of trans phasic torpedoes. Each torpedo lanced out and struck its target head on causing it to vanish in a massive flash of energy.

"What the hell were those?" Kirk questioned looking intently at John.

"Technology you are not ready for" John replied as the last of the Klingon ships disappeared.

"Status of the fleet?" Kirk queried.

"We've lost 21 vessels, 18 severely damaged, they are requesting immediate medical aide" Alora reported.

* * *

The battle was over, and yet John was still disturbed, he had hoped that by destroying the advanced Klingon fleet he may have ended the temporal divergence, but now he knew that the fleeing Klingon vessel must have been the source. John felt defeated, the last of his energy depleted and without access to continuum energy he was practically human. Though he knew he would not age, he felt defeated. He had wanted adventure, wanted exploration and now that he was here, now that he was right In the middle of the most exciting moments of history all he wished for was the serenity of home.

Kirk slipped into John's quarters silently, standing behind John he was saddened by his friends pain. "It did not work, did it?" he questioned, startling the young man.

John turned around "No, If the time stream had been corrected, my people would have recalled me" he replied "and I depleted the last of my energy upgrading your vessels"

Kirk sat down beside John and pulled out a small glass card, as he activated it, images came to life of a young child. "It's Jim" Kirk explained "I keep this with me all the time to remind me of why I'm out here" he stated. "You can't give up, as long as you are here you can make a difference, you've already made a difference in his life and mine" Kirk smiled.

"That ship that escaped, I believe that in 13 years it will cause the destruction of Vulcan and there is nothing I can do for now since it has the whole of the universe to hide" John explained.

Kirk nodded "Then wait and prepare for the future, when the time comes make sure you're there ready to stop it from happening"

John smiled "I'm out of my time, out of my space, over 3000 people here know what I have done today, how can I simply disappear?"

"I've already taken care of that" Kirk replied "I've convinced Starfleet command that in order to preserve the timeline, all records of this incident must be erased. The technology will be stripped from the ship's as soon as we get to space dock"

"About the technology" John replied "You don't have to worry about stripping it, in about 2 hour's there won't be any trace of it"

"How?" Kirk questioned.

"I built in nanites, programmed to restore the vessels to their previous specifications then destroy themselves, it was a safety precaution in case the Klingons managed to salvage one of your ships" John explained.

* * *

John looked out upon the farmhouse that housed his God Son a smile spreading across his face. For ten years now he had taken up residence next door forever keeping a watchful eye on his charge. James Tiberius Kirk had grown up to become like his father in many ways. He had an Iron will and a thirst for adventure and for some reason he could not keep out of trouble. John knew it was the rebellious streak for which Kirk had been well known, it was this quality that had given him an edge in saving the federation on countless occasions.

"How you doing?" John smiled as he approached Jim, whom for all intents and purposes was 10 years younger than John but looked to be the same age.

Jim smiled at his God father, he had known John for ten years now, but the man appeared as though time had forgotten him, never aging. "Just going for a drive" he replied.

"Mind if I Join you?" John questioned.

"Sure thing" Jim replied as he powered up his motorcycle.

John hopped on his own cycle and pulled up next to the Young Kirk, he was oddly confused as the youth showed no interest in Star fleet, yet all the historical data he could remember indicated that this was the year he joined the academy.

The pair took off, speeding through the arid desert roads of Iowa at full speed, off in the distances the structures of the ship yards towered like behemoths over the horizon. John enjoyed these rides, it offered a freedom, a serenity not quite unlike the sensation he felt flying through space as a star ship. As darkness began to encompass the horizon John realized where Jim was going, another night at the bar.

Much like the loaded hog, the bar was the watering hole for the local community, though things always seemed to get a little more than rowdy in there, John had noticed that Jim had begun to frequent the establishment far more often since his parents returned to their respective positions in Starfleet, leaving him alone.

"Come on Jim, not again" John complained as the pair pulled into the parking lot.

Jim laughed at his god father "What's wrong old man, time finally starting to wear you down?" he turned and shot off into the bar.

John followed, his godson in his opinion, was an insatiable womanizer and every other day he'd be recruited as wing man. It paid off that Jim had a 47 year old god father who didn't look a day over 22.

As John entered he could see that Jim had already begun chatting up a woman at the bar, but had done this long enough to realize he wouldn't get anywhere. So John moved on to the other side of the bar and took a seat ordering drinks.

The night moved on and soon the place was packed with people of all different shapes, sizes, colours and races. Keeping a cool eye on Jim, John downed another shot as a crowd of Starfleet cadets entered the bar. John noted the beautiful dark skinned woman make her way to the bar and sighed silently as he realized Jim had spotted her.

In a drunken stupor Jim leaned over the bar and looked at the woman as she ordered her drinks.

"That's a lot of drinks for one woman" Jim stated, John retreated into the corner at the horrendousness of his god sons pick up lines.

"And a shot of jack straight up" the woman added to her drink order trying to ignore Jim.

"Make that two, her shots on me" Jim shouted.

"Her shots on her, thanks but no thanks" she clarified.

"Don't you at least want to know my name before you reject me?" Jim responded.

"I'm fine without it" she replied smiling.

"You are fine without it" Jim responded emphasising the word fine "My name's Jim, Jim Kirk" he paused waiting for a reply to which he got nothing "If you don't tell me your name I'm going to have to make one up" he pressed.

"It's Uhura" she relented.

"Uhura, no way that's the name I was going to make up for you" Jim replied. "Uhura what?" he pressed.

"Just Uhura" she replied

"They don't have last names on your world?" Jim questioned

"Uhura is my last name" She answered.

"So they don't have first names?" he added, before getting up and walking over to her "So you're a cadet, you're stunning, what's your focus?" he asked.

"Xeno Linguistics, you have no idea what that means" she replied

"The study of alien languages, morphology, phonology, syntax, it means you have a talented tongue!" he replied startling her slightly.

"I'm impressed for a moment there I thought you were just a dumb hick who only had sex with farm animals" she replied

"Well, not only" Jim replied causing John to burst into laughs as he made his way round to his godson as he spotted a rather large cadet approach Jim from the side.

The cadet grabbed a hold of Jim's shoulder and pulled him sideways "This townie isn't bothering you is he?"

"Beyond belief" Uhura laughed "But it's nothing I can't handle"

"You can handle me, if that's an invitation!" Jim replied cheesily.

"Hey, you better mind your manners!" the brute threatened.

"Oh relax cupcake it was a joke" Jim replied tapping the man on his shoulder.

"Hey farm boy, maybe you can't count but there are five of us and only one of you" the man replied.

John stepped in "Well, why don't you get some more guys and maybe it will be an even fight?" John stated frankly, taking up a position beside Jim.

The brute turned to face John "And who are you? His mother?"

John looked the man dead in the eyes "Stand down Cadet" he ordered fire burning in his eyes.

"Sure I'll stand down" The man stated before throwing a fist at John "When you're unconscious" he added as his fist impacted John's face, but then withdrew it in pain as several of his bones fractured under the strain of John's enhanced strength. "What the hell" he cried as Jim took the opportunity to punch him sending the man flying across the room.

"Are you okay?" Jim questioned concerned at John, which left him distracted enough to take a blow from one of the other cadets.

John grabbed the cadet and picked him up effortlessly off the ground, throwing him across the bar.

Jim was brought to his feet by a 3rd cadet who held him while the 4th member punched him in the stomach, as he came back for another punch Jim ducked causing him hit the 3rd cadet instead. The cadet stumbled back releasing him as he lunged at number 4 who side stepped and pushed Jim from behind, causing him to brace against Uhura, his hands reaching out clutching her breasts. In shock Uhura shouted then pushed Jim back, in the mean time John had moved on to deal with the 3rd cadet not realizing that a fifth cadet had joined the fray and was pounding on his god sons face. He dropped the 3rd cadet on the floor and ran to Jim's aide, Picking up the cadet he dragged him back and slammed him into a table breaking the table in half, just as a loud whistling filled the room.

"Everyone outside" The firm voice of captain Pike stated with authority!

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

Captain Pike stared down at Jim Kirk, not quite sure what to make of the young man, to his left sat John Shepherd, his face oddly familiar yet Pike couldn't quite place it.

"You know I couldn't believe it when the bar tender told me who you were" Pike started, watching the blood drip from Jim's nose.

"And who am I?" Jim replied.

"Your father's son" Pike answered.

John had the strange feeling that this was the moment which had pushed Kirk to Join Starfleet, and as such he excused himself from the table and made his way outside.

As he stepped into the cold night air he watched intently as the cadets stood rigidly in formation awaiting the Captain. John smiled and walked up to the cadet who had taken a swing at him "How's your hand?" he questioned, looking down as the man nursed his fractured fingers.

The cadet snarled at him, but didn't dare break formation.

"I understand you were just trying to protect your friend here, but you really shouldn't throw cheap punches" John voiced.

"Who are you?" Uhura questioned from her position in line.

John made her way over to the beautiful cadet "John, John Shepherd, and the man your friends tried to kill in there, is my god son".

"Your Godson? How is that possible you look the same age" Uhura replied.

"I'm much older than you think" he replied then turned to the others "I'll just make one thing clear, if you ever try to hurt him again you will answer to me. And by the way, though I may not be in uniform I do carry the rank of commander in Starfleet"

The cadets looked on in confusion as John noted Pike exit the bar. Pike stopped him as the pair passed each other "Sorry but do I know you?" he queried.

John looked at the man easily recognizing him as an ensign from the USS Constitution "John Shepherd" he extended his hand "I believe we met once, about 13 years ago"

Pike scanned his memories and then it clicked, this man had been aboard the USS Constitution during the battle of Sigma 5, a battle that history never recorded. "But you haven't aged" Pike pressed.

John shook his head "No I haven't" he replied smiling at the older man.

"I hope to see your friend in there tomorrow, that's if I've managed to convince him to make a difference" Pike spoke.

"I have no doubt you will" John replied "good bye captain" he saluted before re entering the bar.

There he found Jim seated with a Model of the USS Kelvin fumbling between his fingers.

"The Kelvin, beautiful vessel" John remarked taking a seat opposite him.

Jim's eyes transfixed on the model in front of him "Did you know my father was in command of the Kelvin for 12 minutes, 12 minutes and he saved the lives of over 800 men women and children" he remarked.

"I know Jim" John replied "I was there, I saw your birth aboard the shuttle as we evacuated, your father saved my life just as he saved yours"

Jim shook his head "I'd always resented my father for joining Starfleet, leaving us Earth side while he took off to other worlds. But I think I understand it now, he's doing something good, something right. In twelve minutes he saved 800 people, now who else would have an opportunity like that?"

"Nowhere else" John affirmed.

Jim lifted his head and gazed into John's deep blue eyes "He dared me to do better" he spoke.

John returned Jim's gaze and smiled "I know you can"

Jim stood up startling John slightly "I want to see something" he stated firmly as he made his way out side.

The pair got on their cycles and drove at full speed down the dark dirt roads. After twenty minutes they came upon their destination, the ship yards. From a small hill the pair looked up upon the semi-completed hull of a star ship, in the distance John could make out the registration NCC1701, the enterprise.

The Enterprise, his heart filled with emotion as his thoughts travelled through time and space to the future, he remembered standing on the Presidia with her in his arms staring up at the majestic figure of old.

"Do you think one day I'll get to Captain that ship?" Jim asked, breaking Johns memories.

John looked over to his godson who's eyes gleamed at the sight of the ship.

"I know you will" John replied.

"If I join the academy will you come with me?" Jim turned to face his godfather, he knew his godfather had already reached the rank of commander within the fleet before resigning his commission.

John nodded his head "Might be about time for a refresher course, heck maybe we'll both make captain together" he joked realizing that he would have to re enter the academy as a cadet.

* * *

Morning came, and John awoke abruptly to the sound of dishes clashing in his kitchen. Startled John carefully made his way across the house. Jim was standing in his kitchen a tray of eggs sitting open on the counter while the smell of burnt bacon wafted through the house. This was another reason why John loved this era, real food, something that replicators simply did not capture correctly.

"Whatcha doing there?" John spoke, startling Jim.

Jim turned to face his god father "Just thought I'd whip up some breakfast before we head down to the shuttle, don't know how long it's going to be before we get another home cooked meal once we're in the academy" he joked.

"Well, considering the state of the bacon, I'm not so sure if I want a home cooked meal" John laughed and moved into the kitchen "Since when do you cook?" he commented as he picked up the burnt bacon and tossed it in the disposal. "Go take a seat at the table I'll finish up here!"

John cleaned up the mess Jim had made, and then set to work producing a breakfast fit for a king, with pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and all the fixings. John had become a bit of a chef during his years watching over Jim.

"Smells awesome" Jim commented as John brought out the food, he then quickly began digging into his plate.

"I contacted Starfleet command last night" John interrupted "They've agreed to let met reenlist as a cadet, however because of my time and experience in the field they've asked me to supervise some classes"

Jim looked up from his food "So you're going to be my teacher too?" he complained.

John nodded "Just for some classes" he replied, and then suddenly took notice of the bruises on Jim's face.

John leaned over the table and placed an hand on Jim's chin "That doesn't look good" he remarked, then placed his palm over john's bruise. Though he could no longer access much of the ships systems, he still retained control over the nanites in his body, nanites that not only enhanced his physical strength and speed, but were also capable of repairing damage. As John pulled his hand away from his godson's face the bruise was gone.

Jim felt immediate relief as his godfather's hand passed over his eye, he had seen John do this countless times growing up, healing every minor scrape with a touch, and every time he enquired about it neither his parents or godfather would answer truthfully. Just as they would never answer the question of why his 47 year old godfather, never looked a day over 22. But Jim didn't care, in his later years John had become not only his godfather, but his best friend.

John finished the last of his food then stood up "Time to go, we're going to miss the shuttle" he stated as Jim shovelled the last pieces of bacon into his face.

Jim grabbed a final piece of toast and followed John outside where the pair mounted their motorcycles and speed off down the old dirt road. As they approached the ship yard the haul of the Enterprise loomed filling the horizon. Once again John's mind traveled through time to the Presidia and memories of the world he had left behind, in what seemed like a lifetime ago. Jim had noticed his godfathers sadness the night before, and again the sadness tugged at him.

"What's wrong John, every time you see that ship you become lost" Jim prodded.

John shook his head "It's nothing son, the ship just triggers memories of another time, another world, one that I left behind many years ago" he explained.

Jim looked to his godfather, this was the first time he could remember him ever mentioning another world, he had always been told that he was human. "What world?" Jim pressed.

John looked to his godson as the pair brought their cycles to a stop before the ancient looking shuttle "Never mind" he spoke as he dismounted his bike and quickly entered the shuttle doors.

Looking around John noticed that the majority of cadets on board he had encountered the night before.

"Four years, I'll do it in three" he heard his godson's voice outside before Jim charged his way onboard and scanned the room for an open seat. He found one opposite Uhura and quickly buckled in, meanwhile John had moved to take the seat next to him when Captain Pike called out from behind him.

"Commander Shepherd" Pike called.

John turned around "Yes sir?" he questioned.

"You're up front with me, I've got to debrief you before we arrive at Starfleet academy" he announced.

John nodded and made his way to the front of the ship, navigating his way around an officer who was yelling at a Cadet.

"You need a doctor" she yelled.

"I told you I don't need a doctor I am a doctor" he responded.

"You need to get back to your seat" she pressed.

"I had a seat, in the bathroom with no windows!" he explained.

"You need to get back to your seat now!" she shouted.

John tuned the pair out as he entered the cock pit and sat next to Captain Pike.

"You were aboard the Constitution" he stated in awe "And you've not aged a day"

John nodded "I've got good genes" he smiled.

Pike stared at the man "You resigned your commission six months after the incident on sigma 5"

John raised an eyebrow "What incident" he then raised a finger to his lips.

Pike nodded "I understand that the details of the incident are classified, but that still doesn't explain why you left Starfleet shortly after being promoted to commander, or why your records show you graduated the academy almost 22 years ago. And I don't care what anti ageing meds you've been taking there's no way you're 47 years old" he pressed.

"Captain, I believe Starfleet command has already given me permission to rejoin the cadet program while also supervising classes as a commander, do you intend to prevent me from doing so?" John pressed.

"No, Admiral Kirk has already cleared you" Pike relented "But just be assured I'll be watching you intently over the next 4 years"

John nodded "as you have the right too".

* * *

Two day's had passed since their arrival in San Francisco, and the academy bustled with activity. John had been separated from Jim on their arrival and now wore the black uniform worn by their instructors. He had been instructed to report to the simulation building, at which a young Vulcan cadet was programming a new combat scenario; the cadet had requested John's presence specifically for his service aboard the USS Kelvin.

John stepped into the programming lab and before him stood a visage he did not expect. "Ambassador Spock" he spoke in complete surprise. He had known the Vulcan had joined Starfleet some time ago, and graduated with honours the previous year, but he had not anticipated him to have remained at the Academy.

"Commander Spock" the Vulcan corrected standing to welcome the new arrival.

"Yes sorry commander" John replied "I believe you requested my expertise in the programming of the Kobiashi Maru Scenario" he continued.

Spock looked at his fellow commander intently "I did not request your presence, however, Starfleet command believed I would benefit from the experience of a survivor of the USS Kelvin, and the Sigma five incident" he replied.

John looked at the Vulcan perplexed for a moment, noting a tremor of frustration course through its body "I suppose Starfleet security isn't doing its job, the Sigma five incident is not supposed to be on record" he replied.

"It is true that the incident is not on record, however I have found that humans are very apt at spreading rumours about situations as perplexing as what occurred that day." Spock stated.

John shook his head "I didn't think Vulcan's put any stock in rumours" he replied.

"We do not, though you must know your arrival here has resurrected many of those rumours, especially considering that for a 47 year old man you barely look a day over 22" Spock pressed.

"As you are aware, junior commander" John emphasized the word Junior "I was subjected to massive amounts of Chronoton Radiation during the Kelvin incident, the result of which was a suspension of my aging process"

"Indeed" the Vulcan replied taking a step forward and looking into John's eyes "Chronoton radiation, from a temporal singularity that records at the time had shown you to have perished in. Yet somehow you were discovered 12 years later drifting through space alive"

John looked away "I don't know how that happened, all I am, is thankful that I survived"

The Vulcan stepped back and turned to a computer monitor on which the parameters for the Scenario streamed along as lines of computer code. "I have been told that you are also quite knowledgeable about programming, please review my work and offer insights"

John nodded, glad at the change of subject, he walked over to the screen and began to absorb the computer code and feed it into the machine consciousness that still resided within him. He imagined the scenario, it was a cheat, there was only a .08 percent chance of survival, he turned to Spock. "You have programmed a situation to which there is only a very slim chance of survival!" he remarked.

Spock looked at him, his eyes wide with frustration "There is no chance of survival, it is a no win scenario" he stated firmly.

John shook his head "If it was a no win scenario then why is there still a chance of winning?"

Spock stared at the man with a mix of frustration and anger, his mental shields barely withholding his rage. Spock had spent months perfecting the program, there was absolutely no way this human could have found a weakness at a mere glance of its programming code. "Show me"

John nodded "Very well, I understand you will have a class of cadets running the scenario in two hours, I will take the place of the captain"

Spock relented.

* * *

The two hours passed by as John smiled inwardly at the arrogance of the Vulcan, during that time he had revised the coding sequence to improve the processing efficiency of the sever that was running the Scenario.

"It is time" Spock announced as a wave of cadets entered the scenario.

John nodded and made his way to the captain's chair, he then looked up to the observation windows and smiled at the Vulcan, sure that it would serve to infuriate him further.

"So what are you going to do if he manages to beat the program?" a Lieutenant questioned from beside Spock.

Spock shook his head "No one has ever, or will ever beat the programming" he replied then returned to his computer console to monitor the parameters.

John sat awkwardly at the Command chair, it had been ten years since he was last on the bridge of a Starship.  
"We have picked up a distress signal from the Kobiashi Maru, they have lost power and are stranded, Starfleet command has ordered us to rescue them" the communications cadet announced beginning the scenario.

"Understood" John replied, swivelling around in the captain's chair to watch the view screen, just as a warning sounded.

"Two Klingon battle cruises have entered the neutral zone and are powering up weapons" his helmsman replied.

"Engines full reverse, back us away from the lead Klingon Cruiser" John ordered, as the first round of torpedoes struck the vessel causing it to vibrate.

"Aye sir" the helm responded as the image of the Klingon vessels started to shrink.

"Um sir, I thought we were supposed to rescue the ship?" the communications cadet questioned.

"Just watch cadet, maybe you'll learn something new" He turned to the tactical officer "Prepare three torpedoes, I want you to rig them for proximity detonation, no power signature, no thrust, we're going to lay them like mines" he ordered.

"Aye captain" the cadet responded frantically recalibrating the torpedo system "Mines ready" he responded.

"Good, helm, set course 317 mark 2 for ten seconds, then tactical drop a mine, we will then set course 217 mark 4 for 3 seconds and drop a second mine, finally we will adjust course 127 mark 3 for another 3 seconds and drop the last mine before returning on a vector of 112 mark 2" he ordered to a confused crew who diligently began following his orders.

Spock watched in horror as he realized what Shepherd was doing, he stood up and moved over to the observation window staring at the man with fascination.

On the bridge, what Shepherd had done, began to unfold. As the ship returned to its final vector more warning Klaxon's sounded.

"We have three Klingon War birds de-cloaking..." The helmsman didn't finish his sentence as all three war birds exploded simultaneously, the resulting explosions cripplining the two war birds that were bearing down on his ship.

"Target each ship, take them out, and then transport the survivors of the Kobiashi Maru aboard"

"Aye captain" the tactical officer smiled as he ended the existence of the fictional war ships.

John turned to look up at the observation window "So, let's see, we've destroyed the Klingon vessels, saved the survivors, and taken minimal damage to the ship" he smirked at the arrogant Vulcan.

"How on Earth did he beat your scenario?" the monitoring lieutenant stated flatly.

The Vulcan shook his head "I do not know" he replied.


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

John walked the grounds of the Presidia but unlike its 45th century counterpart, the grounds were simply green fields with rose bushes and trees of exotic origins. There he met Jim, whom he had not seen since their arrival at Starfleet academy. Jim looked at his god father with a grin of his face as he approached, flanked by another cadet in a bright red uniform.

"John I'd like you to meet bones" Jim announced pointing to the cadet to his right who was obviously older than him.

John extended a hand, and smiled as the cadet shook it "Bones, an interesting name" he pressed.

"Sorry sir, my name's Lenard McCoy, Bones is just that cadets way at making fun of me, at my expense I might add" Bones stated.

John shook his head "No need to call me Sir, except for a few classes I'll be considered a cadet just like you" he pressed.

"Then what's with the dark and grim uniform? You know instructors only wear that color to make themselves seem mean and intimidating" McCoy replied "Not that you're mean an intimidating John"

"Careful what you say about my godfather" Jim joked, playfully punching McCoy in the arm.

"God father, Are you insane Man? I always thought Godfathers had to be around for your birth" McCoy replied.

"As I was" John answered, looking the cadet straight in the eyes.

McCoy looked from John to Jim waiting for them to burst out laughing, but it never came.

"You're kidding me, how old are you?" he pressed.

"Old enough to be your father" Jim laughed and gestured for the group to start walking.

"Okay so where are we going?" John pressed as the group left the Presidia and headed into town.

"Oh a little bar I discovered, some place called the Loaded Hog" Jim replied.

_The Loaded Hog_ John stopped as his thought's wondered twenty two hundred years into the future, and the images of his Last night as normal human replayed through his mind.

"Come on" Jim pushed him, breaking his concentration "It's almost happy hour"

Both McCoy and John rolled their eyes.

"He's going to be trouble, isn't he?" Bones commented as they followed in Kirk's wake.

"You have no idea" John answered.

Ten minutes later, sure enough Jim had navigated his way to the Bar. John looked upon the bar with fondness, in all the centuries and millennia that had passed; it still looked exactly the same. The group entered to the sound of music coming from a very familiar looking Jukebox. Jim immediately ran up to the ancient device "Wow, never seen one of these so perfectly preserved" he stated as he poured through the albums. After finding something he liked he pressed the buttons, soon frustrated as nothing happened.

"You have to put in a quarter" John stated flatly from behind Jim.

"What's a quarter?" Jim questioned.

"It's a form of currency they used several hundred years ago, back when this thing was built" he replied as McCoy returned from the bar with a pair of drink's in hand.

McCoy tossed a shiny metal object in Jim's direction "There, figured you might need that" he commented and then handed a beer to John.

John took the beer thankfully as Jim turned on the music, then turned to grab the beer out of Johns hand "Thanks" he stated before darting off towards a cluster of female cadets who were gathered around one of the side tables.

"Frustrating little brat isn't he" McCoy laughed "and I've only known him for 2 days"

John nodded and then headed to the bar as McCoy joined Jim.

At the bar John ordered shots of tequila and then looked over to the corner table where he, Sarah, Daniel and Nigel would one day down firewater and drink until morning. He sighed heavily, just as a hand reached out from behind him and touched his shoulder.

John turned and looked into the deep green eyes of Sarah, shock clearly showing on his face.

"Sarah?" he questioned disbelieving.

The woman shook her head "Sorry Sir, my name is Cadet Azani Troi, you just seemed so sad" she commented returning John's gaze.

John blinked as he started to note the subtle differences between the two women "I'm sorry, you just reminded me of someone I once knew"

"She meant a lot to you didn't she?" Azani replied.

John nodded then returned her gaze "You're Betazoid aren't you?" he questioned.

"Half Betazoid, half human" she replied "That's why I can feel your sadness, you lost her didn't you, you lost them. The feeling of loss is so immense it almost consumes you and guilt over not being able to save them..." She paused and reached out hugging John.

"I'm sorry" she whispered into his ear, and then released him, staring at the man with a mixture of shame and fear. "I'm sorry sir, this is my first time away from Betazed, the emotions of human's run very close to the surface and are so hard to filter out" She turned to leave, but John reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder

"Please, don't leave" John requested "Have a drink with me"

Azani nodded and took a seat next to the man she had just met.

"Tell me about her" Azani pressed.

John closed his eyes "Sometimes when I close my eyes I can still see her face" he remarked "We met another lifetime ago, but she's gone, that entire world, destroyed and I could do nothing to save them"

Azani placed a comforting hand on the man's back, and through the tactile connection images of the woman, of the places they had met, of the bar, all came flooding into her mind. She pulled her hand free and stared at the man in shock and awe. "She was here; you were both here in this bar drinking Razadi firewater. But earth is still here, it hasn't been destroyed..." she paused as realization of what she had glimpsed dawned on her, a planet on who's entire surface spanned a city, the gem of a federation that spanned beyond the limits of her comprehension.

John looked at her with shock, she had somehow broken his mental defences and ripped the images from his mind, and then he realized he had allowed it to happen.

"You must not tell anyone, you must keep the timeline intact" he whispered.

She nodded, understanding the full implications of what she had seen. The Temporal Accord, the merging of mind and energy, body and machine, he was special and he had a job to do.

"I have to go now" Azani finally stated, breaking the silence that had grown between them "I hope we can meet again" she added, pulling out a piece of paper and writing her contact details down for him. She then turned and left the bar.

McCoy and Jim had been watching the interaction from across the room "He's got game" McCoy chuckled. Then froze in shock and awe as the woman, who reached out and actually hugged John "Scratch that he's the freaking master" he added.

Jim laughed, in honesty his godfather had never seemed that interested in one night stands, or relationships in general, he just figured the man had outgrown such things. But the sight brought a smile to his face. "Look, she's giving him her number. Score one for the big guy" he laughed and the pair made their way over to John who sat staring down at Azani's details.

"So what's her name" Jim asked in a semi sarcastic tone.

John looked up at Jim and shook his head "sorry kid, that info's for adults only" he laughed then picked up a shot and downed it. His encounter with the Betazoid had left him at peace, the burning guilt that had once clouded his mind had vanished.

The night drew on and the threesome continued to down shot's, already darkness had descended upon the city and more cadets had joined the fray.

"What time do your classes start tomorrow?" McCoy questioned staring intently at Jim who had made his way through several shot glasses.

Jim shrugged "0700 I think" he managed to blurt out as he down another shot of tequila "Woowee" he stammered slapping the table with his hand.

John shook his head, as he downed his own shot of tequila "I'm instructing a class on higher dimensional physics pertaining to the alignment of long range sensors and its effectiveness on resolution" he stuttered as the alcohol began to dull his senses "And I'll teach it when I damn well please" he laughed.

Jim turned to him laughing "Ah, that's the class I'm taking tomorrow morning" he commented.

McCoy shook his head as he downed his shot of apple cider, knowing full well he also had the same class in the morning and laughing hysterically at the pair of morons.

* * *

John awoke with a splitting headache, vowing never to drink again he sat up, the clock on the wall revealing that it was only 0500 hours. As a commander, his rank afforded him his own room at the Academy, and he was grateful. Finally getting out of bed, John marshalled over to his bathroom and activated the shower, closing his eyes and savouring the feel of sonic energy upon his skin. As he stepped out of the shower he summoned his uniform, something he could still do by manipulating the nanites within him, utilizing their replication abilities to assemble the clothing around him. He then walked over to his desk and reviewed his lesson plan, finally downloading it into a data pad before leaving for the cafeteria.

As he walked through the halls of the dorm rooms he came to a stop before room 2873 belonging to Cadets Lenard McCoy and James Tiberius Kirk. He knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

From behind the door he heard shuffling and moaning and finally the locking mechanism unlatch as a dishevelled McCoy opened the door. "John?" he questioned covering his eyes from the light of the corridor.

"Can I come in?" John asked.

McCoy nodded and let the man slip by him and into the darkened room.

"Computer Lights" John ordered, and smiled as the Jim jumped out of bed shocked by the sudden brightness.

"What the hell!" Jim yelled.

"It's 0623, you don't want to be late for your first class!" John laughed.

Jim rubbed his eyes, pain clearly visible on his face, the tell tale signs of a hangover. "Damned whoever invented alcohol" he cursed and looked over to Bones who was now awake and alert "Why the hell aren't you hung over" Jim demanded.

Bones laughed at him "Apple cider doesn't give you hangovers" he grinned, as Jim's eyes widened at the realization of what his roommate had done.

"You bastard" he commented then slumped back into his pillow.

"I have to meet with a certain pointy eared Vulcan before class, just be sure you're not late to my class or I'll have to punish you" John stated seriously "I don't want people to think I'm showing favouritism"

Bones nodded in John's direction "Don't worry, he'll be there with a smile on his face" he laughed.

John turned and retreated from the room, passing through more corridors then exiting the dorm complex and heading towards his classroom.

Spock was seated waiting for him when John finally arrived.

"You are two minutes late" Spock stated with indignation.

"Not by my watch" John replied smiling.

"All time devices in the academy are synchronized, your watch cannot be wrong" Spock stated with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure about that?" John pressed.

"Certain" Spock replied.

"About as certain as the Kobisashi Maru?" John questioned, savouring the frustration that filled the Vulcan's face. "Now are we going to waste more time arguing about the synchronicity of Starfleet time pieces or do you have the new coding sequence for the deep space 2 sensor processing matrix?" John pushed.

Spock relented and passed the coding sequence over to John "I have done my best to insure stable operation of the matrix, however the processing sequence still does not operate within acceptable time limits"

John pulled up the code and glanced at it, absorbing it into his computer consciousness and deciphered exactly where the problem was "Well why are you using a recursive algorithm here in the sub matrix protocol, it's what's resulting in extended calls and pushing your time boundaries?"

Spock looked at the code and realized that John was right, but even so there would be no way to fix the code, as only a recursive algorithm could collate the information. "There is no other method of collating that data chain" he replied.

John shook his head and rewrote the coding sequence using a bit of twenty fifth century mathematical formulae, and then presented it to the Vulcan.  
"That's impossible" Spock replied looking at the code with shock, the human had just rewritten a piece of code that had took him weeks to prepare, and not only repaired it, but repaired it using mathematical formulae's that he had never seen.

John executed the code to demonstrate that it worked in real time conditions just as the first of his students started to arrive taking their seats.

John turned to Spock "Now if you don't mind, I have a class to teach" he stated.

Spock nodded and quickly downloaded the revised code. He then turned and left the room just as McCoy and Jim entered, the pair taking seats at the very back of the classroom.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

3 years later

"NOOOOO" John awoke shouting grasping his head as images of his Earth flashed before him, a dark sinister world full of Borg.

"Computer lights" a warm voice uttered from beside him as a comforting hand reached around to encompass his shivering body. "It's all right, you're safe" the warm voice of Azani Troy soothed him as her hand's reached up to his face and pulled it towards hers. "It's coming isn't it, your last chance at saving your home" she whispered.

John nodded, he had waited for this time for 13 years, but now as it drew closer he felt fear. Fear that the moment would pass, that Vulcan would be destroyed and that his last chance at preserving the future would be forever gone. John looked into the deep green eyes of Azani, feeling her mind press against his own, absorbing his fears and diminishing them. He leaned in and kissed her, the rush of emotion sending what felt like an electric shock, through his body.

Azani broke away "you're thinking of her again" she remarked and sighed deeply.

John nodded as the stunningly beautiful women slipped out of bed "I have to go, I have an early class tomorrow" she stated flatly as she picked up her uniform from the bedroom floor.

"Please don't go" John begged.

"I'm sorry" Azani replied as she left the room, leaving John seeped in thought.

It took several hour's for John to wane back to sleep, and after what seemed like only a minute of slumber, he was awoken by a knock on the door.

"Come in" John yelled in an annoyed voice.

Jim and Bones both barged in standing around the very tired John.

"Today's the big day!" Jim shouted, "I'm taking the Kobiashi Maru test again"

"And he's going to fail, AGAIN" Bone's added.

"Well that's what I was thinking about, you know there are rumours going around that you beat the test already" Jim looked anxiously at his godfather.

John shook his head "I only won because I knew the parameters of the test, it is after all supposed to be a no win scenario" John pressed.

"I don't believe in no win scenario's, I mean look at dad, staring down at a ship a hundred times more powerful yet he was still able to take it out and save over 800 people, and live to tell about it" Jim shouted.

"He cheated, he had me" John replied absent minded, then froze as he realized what he had just said. Both Jim and bones stared at him with surprise.

"What do you mean he cheated" Bones asked.

John shook his head "Nothing, never mind, let's get back on topic" he stammered.

Jim looked at him curiously, there had always been some things about the encounter that never made sense to him, such as how multiple reports had indicated that his father had remained on the bridge during the encounter, yet somehow he managed to get aboard the emergency shuttle in time. _He cheated_ John thought curiously to himself, and then a thought occurred to him. "I'll be back guys I just need to do some... studying" he paused for effect then left the room.

* * *

It was several hours later when John found himself at the observation window to the scenario room, flanked on each side by the supervising instructor and the Vulcan.

"Considering your relationship to the Cadet, I would not be surprised if he attempts the same manoeuvres that you followed" the Vulcan commented.

John shook his head "Don't worry Mr Vulcan, I didn't give him any pointers, he's on his own on this one" John affirmed.

Spock raised an eyebrow, surprised that the human would not help his godson pass, considering that there was only one means of beating the scenario.

"So let's get this show on the road" The instructor smirked then pressed the start button, triggering the scenario.

John looked intently as his godson sat playfully at captain's chair holding an apple, and laughed inwardly at the incredulous stares he was getting from Uhura. John was aware for some time that Uhura and Spock had entered into a private relationship, having spent so much time over the years working with the man.

"That's okay" he heard Jim say as the Klingon vessels fired on his ship. John raised an eyebrow puzzled

"Is he not taking this seriously?" the instructor question as Jim had turned to Uhura and ordered her to prepare to receive all the survivors from the injured ship.

And then it happened, and instantly John knew what Jim had done. The computer systems began scrambling, compensating for a new parameter that had been added into the scenario. John shook his head.

As the scenario ended in victory and everyone on the observation area scrambled to figure out what had happened, John closed his eyes not knowing if this turn of events would end his godson's career or make him a legend.

* * *

"You can't do this Spock, he could be expelled" John shouted at an irate Spock.

"Then he should not have cheated" Spock defended as he continued his charge through the corridors of Starfleet headquarters heading straight for the dean of disciplines office.

"Spock stop!" John shouted causing the Vulcan to turn around and raise an eyebrow. "If you do this, you're going to ruin his career" he pressed.

Spock looked pointedly at John "Honesty, Integrity, Trust, that is what we expect in a Starfleet officer, if someone were to brazenly cheat as cadet Kirk has, then he does not deserve to become a Starfleet officer" He replied then turned and continued on his way.

John ran after the man, following him into the dean's office.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" the dean greeted.

"I would like to inform you of a violation to the ethical code of conduct" Spock announced "Cadet James Tiberius Kirk, added a subroutine to the Kobiashi Maru scenario, changing the parameters, thus allowing him to beat it. This was clearly a violation of the ethical code" he replied.

The dean stared at the Vulcan intently "This is a serious situation which could end the Cadet's career in Starfleet" he remarked.

"I understand" Spock replied.

"Sir you can't expel him for this, the Kobiashi Maru itself is a no win scenario, in fact cadet Kirk showed ingenuity in successfully winning" John defended.

The dean looked from one commander to the other deep in thought. "I'm afraid I am going to have to call a meeting of the disciplinary council in decided the cadets fate. But be assured both of your arguments will be taken into consideration during our deliberation" he stated.

* * *

The Loaded Hog filled with cadets all celebrating Kirk's victory over the no win scenario. The music was loud, the drinks flowed freely and Kirk was having a celebration of his own with a very green cadet in the corner of the Bar. Bones, having sworn off women, at least until he stopped having to pay alimony to his ex wife, had taken up residence at the bar.

John walked in, concern deep on his face as he made his way to the bar and took a seat next to McCoy.

"Line them up" He ordered to the bar tender.

The bar tender nodded in affirmation and pulled out seven shot glasses, then filled them with a dark liquid. John took the first shot and downed it, then continued down the chain until he had consumed all seven shots. The bar tender then placed a glass of jack and coke before him.

"Something on your mind?" McCoy questioned.

John looked at the man, pain in his eyes "I'm going Vulcan in 3 hours" he replied.

"So you're going to miss the assembly?" McCoy remarked, wondering what could be so urgent and so nerve wrecking for the man.

"I'm afraid so" he nodded in confirmation "I need you to do me a favour, tomorrow morning there's going to be some kind of disaster on Vulcan, they're going to call for help and Starfleet is going to send you cadets in the only ships available. Whatever you do, I want you to make sure that Jim is aboard the enterprise"

Bones shook his head "I don't understand"

John looked the man dead in the eyes "Just make sure he's aboard the Enterprise tomorrow!"

Bones nodded and watched as the nervous John left the bar.

* * *

John walked out into the night sky, he could feel the warmth of the alcohol consume him. It was time, and he knew what must be done.

"Computer transport" he ordered as his body dissolved to appear seconds later aboard a star ship that was no bigger than a standard shuttle craft yet far more powerful.

John had spent the last 3 years building the Excalibur from the ground up, utilizing a myriad of technology from the 24th through to the 45th centuries. He knew it would be no match for a 45th century ship, but he also knew that he would only be going up against 24th century technology. The outer hull design was inspired by the Delta flyer, a ship John had viewed a hundred times at the Smithsonian. Infused into the technology was Johns own nanites, almost making it a living being able to regenerate on the subatomic level.

"Computer set a course for Vulcan" he ordered.

The ship responded to his wishes, however, instead of jumping to warp, a gravimetric charge tore apart the fabric of space before it, opening an instantaneous conduit to the Vulcan star system through which he passed effortlessly.

"Vulcan orbit established" the computer responded.

"Engage stealth mode, launch sensor drones" he ordered.

Outside of his vessel, stars emerged and sped off into stable positions orbiting the planet. John looked out on the desert world with wonder, _Vulcan_ he thought to himself. In his time Vulcan mirrored Earth in its complexity, cities that spanned the globe, satellites and space stations that encased the world in an artificial aura, and the only trans planetary bridge that spanned between Vulcan and its neighbouring sister world of Delta Vega. It was an awesome sight to see it in its original glory days.

John watched for a few more hours before drifting off into a deep sleep.

"Warning unidentified vessels detected" the computer screamed as a dozen behemoths decloaked in orbit of Vulcan.

"Computer analysis" he yelled as the majority of the vessels took up orbit on the opposite side of the planet from the other.

"Vessels outer haul designs conform to Reman Scimitar class destroyers first encountered by the Enterprise in the late 24th century" the computer replied shocking John. Obviously whoever had damaged the timeline had managed to create a fleet of the most powerful ships of the twenty fourth century.

"Why are they drilling?" John questioned "They have enough power to lay waste to the entire planet from orbit"

The answer soon came as warning alarms rang throughout the ship "Red matter detected, most probable reason for drilling would be to allow passage of red matter into the planetary core, result of which would be a singularity that would consume the planet"

John could not let this happen; he could not let the planet be destroyed. In haste he decloaked the vessel and charged towards the nearest scimitar. Quickly he deployed his armour and powered his weapons targeting the ships main reactor core. However the vessel had taken note of his approached and bared down on his tiny ship with full weapons.

His vessel shuddered under the bombardment, though he utilized superior technology he knew he couldn't take on all 12 ships simultaneously, and already the other ships were moving in to aide their ally as they saw John's vessel absorb the impacts with little effort.

John returned fire, hot beams of phased plasma ripping through the scimitar's shields and ripping off its arms. While he engaged the remaining ships John watched in horror as six federation ships warped into orbit and almost instantaneously met their demise at the hands of the one of scimitar on the far side of Vulcan.

John closed his eyes in silent prayer for the dead, hoping that his godson was not among them, while he returned his attention to the swarming scimitars.  
"Shields at 84 percent, armour at 92 percent" the computer announced as his ship shook at the impact of almost a hundred simultaneous torpedo strikes coupled with a greater number of disrupter fire.

John returned fire severing the arms off another scimitar while splitting a third vessel in half with a round of torpedoes, but he knew his time was dwindling as sensors reported the drilling had almost penetrated the planets core. He tried to manoeuvre his way clear of the scimitar's hoping to make a dash for the drilling vessel but found that every avenue was blocked as the scimitars began launching fighters of their own. His shields now permanently flared absorbing the constant stream of disrupter fire and torpedoes. He then realized that this had been planned, the scimitars where only there to distract him while their leader bore into the planet's surface and proceeded to destroy the planet.

As another scimitar vaporized in a miniature super nova, taking out a squadron of its own fighters, John detected the arrival of another ship, this time it was the Enterprise. John's eyes grew wide, he still could not navigate out of the enclosure, he could not save the Enterprise. But then something curious happened, the drilling vessel stopped its assault on the federation ship. John looked on in confusion, and was broken out of his shock by the sound of the computer warning "Shields at 32 percent, armour at 43 percent, recommend immediate disengagement and recharge" it warned.

John shook his head in defeat, but knew there would be one way, and one way only to stop this fleet. "Computer set core to self destruct, t-minus 2 minutes, auto helm take over" he ordered and then walked over to the transporter. The drill that was used by the scimitar had disrupted communications and transporters of the federation ships, but his ship utilized quantum based teleporting that was unaffected. Activating his transporter John was instantaneously transported to the bridge of the Enterprise where to his shock he found his godson, a little worse for the wear, but alive.


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

The bridge of the Enterprise sat in shock as John Shepherd had materialized in a method that no one had ever seen before. Quantum Teleportation, in John's decade, was the norm for intra solar system travel, allowing for instantaneous movement from one point in space to another within an effective radius of a thousand light years.

John stood smiling on the bridge at the sight of his godson and then turned to bones "You did it" he stated.

Bones looked at the man in disbelief "How?"

Before John could reply a transmission appeared on the view screen "Hello" the Romulan stated intently staring at bridge crew.

Pike regained his composure and turned to the figure "I'm Captain Christopher Pike to whom am I speaking" he stated with authority.

"Hi Christopher I'm Nero" the Romulan replied.

"You've declared war against the federation, withdraw, I'll arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location" Pike stated.

"I do not speak for the Empire, we stand apart" Nero replied then tilted his head as he gazed at Spock "As does your Vulcan crewmember, isn't that right Spock"

John's eyes darted from Nero to Spock, trying to process exactly what was going on, but before he could come to a conclusion, the ship shuddered violently as the Excalibur went supernova, obliterating the Scimitar fleet.

Nero's calm faulted as he realized all other ships had been destroyed, but then comforted himself in the knowledge that the time agent had been destroyed and that the sacrifice of the Remans operating the scimitars had not gone in vain.

"What was that?" Pike broke the silence.

"Oh nothing, just disposed of a little problem" Nero replied then continued "We have not met Spock, not yet anyway however there is something I would like you to see. As for you Captain, your transporters have been disabled, as you can see by the rest of your armada you have no choice. You will man a shuttlecraft and come aboard the Scimitar" he smiled then terminated the link.

As soon as the link terminated everyone turned to the Captain protesting his decision to follow Nero's orders. The Captain turned to John "What was that explosion"

John looked the Captain in the eye and decided to tell him the truth "I destroyed my ship in order to take out Nero's fleet of Scimitars" he replied.

"What ship?" Jim questioned standing up and looking his godfather in the eyes.

John looked to his godson his eyes burning with emotion "It was all for you Jim, everything I have done was to protect you, from saving your father on the Kelvin, to destroying the Klingon fleet, to being here now, it was all for you" he remarked.

"Who is Nero" Pike interrupted pulling John's attention to himself.

John shook his head "In honesty I do not know" John explained.

"Then what do you know" Spock interrupted.

John turned to the Vulcan "What I do know is Nero is not from your time, from his technology I have to conclude he is from the late twenty fourth century, at least a hundred and twenty years from now" he answered.

The bridge looked at him in shock "But how do you know what twenty fourth century technology looks like?" Uhura pressed, stepping down and standing next to Spock.

"Because, I am from the future" John confessed.

"If you are from the future, then how did you get here?" Spock pressed.

"In my time we scan time as you scan space. During the earlier centuries of the federation, many time wars plagued the timeline threatening to unmake not only the federation but billions of races across space and time. The temporal Accord was thus formed, and in the mid 45th century I became a part of the Accord. Shortly after my joining a temporal storm swept through the federation, destroying my world. The temporal shields of the Accord protected it from full erasure but the damage to the core was un repairable. So I was sent back to fix what should never have happened." John explained.

"And what shouldn't have happened?" Pike questioned.

John shook his head "The destruction of the Kelvin was the first instance of divergence, but I was not prepared for the encounter with a temporal singularity, it almost destroyed me." He turned to Jim "If you father hadn't placed me aboard the shuttle and got me far enough away from it, everyone would have perished. When I regained consciousness I realized your father was still aboard the Kelvin, and so I pulled him through space into the shuttle before the Kelvin's demise" John continued "I had hoped that by sealing the anomaly and ultimately destroying Nero's vessel I could save the time line, but Nero escaped and the timeline remained changed"

"The Klingon ships at Sigma 5 that was Nero again wasn't it" Pike pushed.

John nodded "I believe after the Kelvin incident he was captured by the Klingons and forced to upgrade their ships. But he got away on the one Klingon vessel that survived the battle, and over the past 13 years constructed a fleet of Scimitars, technology that could've brought your federation to its knees. But I do not believe that is his intention anymore, I believe he wants to annihilate Vulcan while you watched" he explained gesturing towards Spock.

"Why me?" Spock questioned.

John smiled "Do you remember when we first met, do you remember what I called you?"

Spock raised an eyebrow "Ambassador?"

John nodded "As my history goes, after your adventures on the Enterprise, almost a hundred years from now, you travel to Romulus and found the reunification movement. You garner support and after the assassination of the Romulan senate during the Shinzon incident, your movement becomes wide spread culminating in a full reunification shortly after you successfully save Romulus from a supernova using red matter..."

Realization dawned upon John of what had happened to cause the divergence of time. He quickly ran to a science station and adjusted the sensors to penetrate the Scimitars shielding.

"What are you doing?" Captain Pike questioned.

"Before I left my vessel, my sensors detected a large amount of red matter aboard that vessel"

"Red matter?" Spock enquired.

"It is used for the creation of micro singularities, singularities powerful enough to consume a sun" John replied.

"Or planet" Spock pressed "That is why they are drilling into the planets surface!" he concluded.

Pike turned to his officers "I need officers trained in advanced hand to hand combat" he announced.

Ensign Sulu raised his hand sheepishly "I have Captain"

"Then you're with me" he turned to Jim "Cadet Kirk, you're with me too you shouldn't even be here!" he commented.

"I'm coming with you Captain, Even if they successfully stop the drill, Nero may still launch his weapon and I would be the only person capable of stopping it" John offered.

Pike nodded and then left the bridge.

* * *

John had never spaced jumped without a personal force field before, and the thought of soaring through open space, entering a planet's atmosphere at terminal velocity and then being stopped by a very thin parachute, scared him. Next to him his god son and Ensign Sulu were strapped into their suites awaiting deployment.

Jim turned and looked into his godfathers eyes, questions burning in his mind, but he did not have time to ask, not yet, not while Vulcan was still under attacked.

"Launching in 3, 2, 1" the voice came from the cockpit before the threesome were catapulted towards the planets surface.

John closed his eyes, engulfing the freedom of once again soaring through space. The serene quite and tranquility filled his spirit. Soon however, the gracefulness of soaring through space was replaced with thunder of atmospheric entry.

"Platform closing 20 thousand meters" John heard the voice of his godson through his com unit. Looking down, far in the distance, he could just barely make out his target, a round platform barely ten meters in diameter.

Soon the platform began to grow in size and he pushed towards it at incredible speeds.

"4000 meters, pulling my shoot" he heard Sulu yell.

"3000 meters, pulling my shoot" he heard his good son also announce.

John kept a keen eye on the platform, his computer mind carefully calculating the perfect angle and trajectory required for a landing.

"1500 meters, John Pull your shoot!" Jim yelled over the com.

John held his ground, and then he reached his entry point, at only 500 meters from the platform John pulled his cord. Instantly his shoot deployed breaking his descent, not enough for a human to have landed but more than enough for John's enhanced body to lay claim to the platform. His feet struck home and he kneeled to absorb the shock leaving a visible dent in the hull. As his parachute spun out and threatened to drag him off the platform, John punched his hand through the Duranium plated platform, holding himself in place. Once the full energy of his landing had dissipated, John stood up and retracted his parachute. He then watched as his godson made a haphazard approach, quickly reaching out and grabbing Jim's arm and preventing him from flying off the platform.

Jim watched awestruck as his godfather had landed creating a visible dent in the alloy that comprised the platform. He was even more awestruck as John was able to reach out and hold him in place against the force of his parachute. Quickly he reached out and retracted his parachute.

John then noticed a hatch opening and a Romulan climbing out, his godson noticing before him had already bounded towards the creature with helmet in hand. Using the helmet as a weapon Jim began assaulting the first Romulan knocking his weapon free just as Sulu soared over them. John left his godson and reached out to grab Sulu's legg as the mans parachute twisted and got sucked in over the side threatening to pull him into the laser drill. As the shoot vaporized John managed to hold Sulu in place, meanwhile Jim's fight wasn't going very well. John let go of Sulu and bound across the platform. Targeting the second Romulan who had brandished a blade, John ran at full speed and tackled the being, sending it sprawling into the air and flying over the platform to certain death. John then turned to the first Romulan who was now standing over Jim choking him. For an instant rage filled John and he reached out a fist and struck the being with such force that his had passed straight through the creature. Withdrawing his hand, the Romulan slumped over Jim, dead, while his hands were covered in sickly green blood.

Jim looked up in shock as the Romulans stomach exploded from which a hand now protruded, as it withdrew he realized what John had done. After rolling the creature off the platform he turned to his godfather in shock.

"We have to shut it down" John announced breaking the silence.

The others nodded and together they raised their weapons and began firing on the drill. In moments the drill died and transporter ability was restored.

"Away team to Enterprise can you beam us up now?" Jim questioned.

"One moment away team we're just preparing the transporters now, whatever you do don't move!" a voice replied.

That is when they heard it, the sound of an object moving at terminal velocity descending through the atmosphere. As it passed the group John realized what it was, he could feel the red matter within it.

"They've launched the red matter" he shouted then turned to Jim "GO back to the ship, I'm going after the red matter" he ordered and the proceeded to jump off the platform, making a swan dive after the leading torpedo.

For what seemed like hours John chased the torpedo through the depths of the planet, reaching out he could almost feel the power of the red matter. It had to be neutralized or the entire planet would be destroyed, but for the life of him, John could not think of what to do.

And then John collided with the torpedo as it came to a halt at the core of the planet, the red matter collapsed creating the dreaded black hole. Time slowed down for john as he sat mere billionths of a second away from death, It was over, he was defeated, he could not stop the force of time.

And then it was over, John was absorbed into the singularity and as it fed upon the world of Vulcan it grew. But something curious had happened in those last fleeting moments of life, John's temporal core had sparked, and with that spark he became encased in a field of time. As the singularity expanded, so too did the temporal energy powering John's core, he was given life, given a purpose once again.

As the exit aperture of the singularity had stolen the temporal energy, the entry aperture had the opposite effect, recharging him.

The sleek form of the Accord star ship emerged from the singularity. John looked upon the universe now through the eyes of his ship.

Only moments had passed for John as he absorbed the last of the temporal energy from the singularity, it wasn't much, but it was enough to regain control of some of his ship functions. He soon realized that almost an hour had passed since his descent into the planets core, and reached out with his sensors searching for the Enterprise. What he found disturbed him, his Godson had been ejected from the vessel and his pod crash landed upon the surface of Delta Vega. Then something caught his attention that filled him with dread, a beast of Delta Vega was chasing Jim across the snow covered surface.

John lanced out at the speed of light, Delta Vega in his sights, his godson running for his life towards a cave. As John entered the atmosphere he slowed his descent and retook human form crashing into the midst of the creature. It exploded spreading blood, guts and carapace in every direction, blanketing Jim.

Jim froze as the creature exploded, fear running through his mind and light speed, and then it vanished as he saw his god father emerge from the twisted hulk. Jim's eyes went wide as he walked towards the man he thought he had known for all those years. He looked up into John's deep blue eyes that mirrored his own "We thought you were dead" he cried, hugging the man.

John smiled and embraced his godson, the spark that had powered his escape now depleted, he looked upon Jim with sad eyes. "It will take more than an black hole to keep me from you" he replied.

As the pair embraced they failed to notice the approach of another figure. It made its what towards the pair and called out "Am I interrupting something?"

Instantly the pair released each other and turned to the man, who they now realized was Vulcan. The man's eyes grew wide as he stared intently at Jim.

"Jim" the future Spock questioned "How did you find me?"

Jim looked upon the elderly Vulcan with scepticism "Excuse me do I know you?" he questioned.

"I have been, and forever shall be your friend" the man replied raising his hand in a traditional Vulcan gesture.

"It's Spock" John explained.

"I'm sorry do I know you?" Spock questioned with a raised eyebrow.

John shook his head "No Ambassador, I'm afraid you came well before my time, but not a child on my home world has never heard your name" John explained.

Jim looked from one man to the other "Wait a minute, he's from the future too?" he interrupted.

Spock nodded his head "Indeed, but what are you doing here, you should be aboard the Enterprise"

John turned his attention to Jim "Why aren't you still on the Enterprise?" he pressed.

"You, at least the past you, threw me off the ship for mutiny!" Jim explained.

"Mutiny? You are not the Captain?" Spock enquired.

"No you're the Captain, ever since Captain Pike was captured and John here was assumed dead" Jim explained further.

"The Captain was captured by Nero" Spock questioned.

Both Jim and John turned their focus on the aging Vulcan "What do you know about Nero" they said in unison.

"He is a very troubled Romulan, he is the reason why I am here, and why history has been altered" Spock answered and moved towards Jim ready to mind meld with him.

Jim backed away unsure.

"It's okay, it's a far more effective means of sharing my knowledge" Spock explained.

Jim nodded and the pair proceeded to meld.

John watched on in fascination as the pair melded, and ten minutes later they broke apart Jim's eyes welling with tears.

"I'm sorry, emotional transfer is a side effect of the meld" Spock explained

"Then you do feel" Jim questioned.

"Just because we do not show emotions does not mean we do not posses them" Spock explained.

John stepped up beside Spock "Please show me" he asked.

Spock nodded and proceeded to Meld with John.

As John watched the events unfold he was troubled by something, when he finally broke away from the Vulcan he shook his head. "No, that should not have happened" he shouted.

Spock looked to the man with a raised eyebrow "But it did happen"

John continued to shake his head "No, in my Time our history recorded you were successful in saving Romulus, it is the single unifying event that join's your two races" he explained. He then reviewed the images Spock had given him, the reading son the sun and realized that nothing Spock had done was wrong, it was the exploding sun. It had detonated earlier than it should have.

And then memories started to flow into his mind of the Observatory, every second replaying in perfect detail, as he walked between the columns of light led by his Trill handler. "_Atomization of Burali and Castani fleets complete, ready to jump to next temporal coordinates" _the memory of the overheard conversation between a time agent and his handler filled Johns mind.

"The time war" John gasped "It was not your fault Spock, it was ours, my people pulled a thread of time that unravelled all of history"

"I don't understand" Jim pressed.

"In the 27th century a time war was fought between a dozen races throughout time and space. One war in particular took place above the Romulan home world, it was between the Castani and the Burali. The federation intervened and destroyed both civilizations, however they left behind a minefield of damaged ships and technology that my people were left to deal with. A time agent was assigned to dispose of the vessels, he chose to atomize the technology and scatter it to the solar winds". John explained.

"Would that not have successfully preserved the timeline?" Spock questioned.

"It would, except that the Castani and Burali utilize neutronium based alloy's in the construction of their vessels. Now if Neutronium from the hulls of 20,000 vessels were swept into the nearby star" John pressed.

"It would have caused the star to collapse sooner than it should have" Spock completed.

John nodded his head "By my estimated that amount of neturonium would've shortened the lifespan of the star by approximately 3 hours"

"More than enough time for me to have intercepted and saved Romulus" Spock concluded.

Jim shook his head, extremely confused by what was being said "So wait a minute, are you telling me the 45th century is responsible for the 24th century's screwing up the timeline because of a war in the 27th century yet precipitated by a screw up 11000 years before Romulus was occupied?"

"Indeed" Spock answered.

"Then there's only one way to fix the timeline, I need to go back and stop the agent" John stated.

"And how are we going to send you back in time?" Jim questioned.

"The red matter" John answered "That single drop was enough to restore my life and bring me here, with the amount aboard Nero's ship I'll be able to return through the time streams"

"Well how do we get to Nero's ship?" Jim pressed.

"I believe there is a federation outpost on this planet, if they have a transporter we may be able to beam aboard the enterprise"

"Beam aboard a ship travelling at warp" Jim raised an eyebrow.

"Jim, we're from the future, things that you thought were impossible are a part of our everyday lives" John explained.

* * *


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

The threesome stumbled into the federation outpost covered in snow. The outpost was run down, barely standing on its last legs, however the warmth of the hall returned some sensation to their bodies.

After being initially greeted by a creature of unknown origin the trio were brought before someone very familiar to Spock, and distantly familiar to John.

"You are Montgomery Scott" Spock announced, looking intently at the younger visage of his old crew member.

"Aye" the man replied in a thick accent.

"The same Montgomery Scott who postulated the theory of trans warp beaming?" Spock questioned.

"And the same Montgomery Scott who allowed for the creation of pattern memory storage of a transport beam" John added.

Scottie looked up at the pair in confusion "Aye on the first thing, but have no idea what you're talking about with the pattern memory storage doo hickie"

"No, because you haven't invented it yet" John smiled.

Scottie looked at the pair in slight shock "You mean you're form the future?" he asked.

"They are, I'm not" Jim replied.

"Great, do they have sandwiches in the future?" Scottie deadpanned.

John shook his head "I'm sorry Mr Scott, but we have very little time remaining, do you have access to a transporter?" he questioned.

Scottie nodded his head "Aye but she's an ancient piece of technology, follow me" he replied leading the pair to a shuttle.

Inside the shuttle stood two transport booths, immediately Spock moved to the computer terminal and began to program the computer.

"What you got there?" Scottie questioned the Vulcan.

"Your formulae for achieving Transwarp beaming" Spock replied.

Jim walked up to the transporters "There's only room for two" he stated.

"I'm not coming with you" Spock spoke.

"Wait a minute I thought part of this deal hinged on getting Spock to stand down as Captain!" Jim interrupted.

"Under no circumstances are you to allow my younger self to gain knowledge of my existence" Spock pressed.

"So how are we supposed to convince him? Over your dead body?" Jim replied.

"Preferably not, however there is a Rule that requires a Captain to stand down if he has become emotionally compromised" Spock interjected.

"Have you met... well you? Does he even have any feelings?" Jim questioned.

"Jim, I have just lost my entire planet, I can tell you that I am emotionally compromised, and so is he" Spock replied.

John moved over to the computer terminal and adjusted some of the figures Spock had input, with more advanced mathematical formulae. He then turned to Jim "We're running out of time, I'm going to beam you and Scottie ahead of me, I'll be putting you right on the bridge. I'll beam in soon afterwards" he announced.

Jim nodded while he and Scottie took up their positions in the transporter booths. In swirling whisps of light the pair dissolved, and just as the left a massive energy spike passed through the shuttle causing all the lights to flicker out.

"Damn it" John shouted "We've blown the main breakers" he jumped out of his chair and moved to the rear of the shuttle.

It finally took several minutes for John to reroute power to the transporter, with the help of Spock. He looked into the ageing Vulcans eyes "Live long and prosper" he announced as his body dissolved in the same wisps of energy.

As he materialized he found himself on the bridge and was startled to see the Younger Spock bound across the bridge and choke his nephew. John froze for a moment in shock, then was brought out of his daze by a voice from behind "Spock!" the Vulcans father cried.

Spock regained his composure and relinquished command of the ship before heading out of the bridge.

"Good going, now you've left us with no Captain and no first officer to replace him" Bones commented.

Jim smiled then moved to take a seat at the Captains Chair.

"The captain made him first officer" Sulu confirmed.

"You've got to be kidding me right? John you're the senior officer on board cant you do something?" Bones remarked.

"Thanks for the support" Jim quipped.

John shook his head "As ranking officer aboard this ship I promote James T Kirk to Captain" John announced, then turned to the helm "Set a course for Earth, we're going after them"

Sulu nodded his head and began turning the ship around.

"So what's the plan?" Uhura questioned from behind "That ship is stronger, faster and packs enough power to wipe out a planet"

"They're going to want to make an example of Earth, which means they're going to drill into its surface and use the red matter rather than simply bombard its surface" John spoke, just as Checkov shouted from behind a science station.

"I've got it" he shouted.

"Saturn and Earth are in exact alignment, so if we can drop out of warp behind one of Saturns moons, say Titan, the electromagnetic field would hide us from her sensors" he announced.

"He is correct" Spock spoke as he entered the bridge "I can confirm his calculations, from behind Titan we can beam aboard Nero's ship steal back the black hole device and rescue the captain"

"I can't let you go" Jim pointed out.

"Vulcans and Romulans share a common ancestory which would make it easier for me to decipher their computer systems and access the location of both Captain Pike and the weapon. Also my mother was Human and that makes Earth the only home I have left" Spock replied.

"Okay but you're not going alone, I'm coming with you" Jim stated, then turned to his godfather "How about you John?"

John shook his head "I think this is a Journey meant for the pair of you, my time would best be served upgrading this ship for combat with Nero's vessel, upgrades which Cannot commence while we are still at warp" he stated.

Ten minutes later, after jumping to warp 9.9997 thanks to John's minor upgrades, the ship catapulted out of warp behind titan and the pair were transported aboard Nero's star ship.

John immediately set to work, placing his hand on the computer terminal he downloaded new upgrades for the enterprise and proceeded to implement them. Wisps of energy encased the hull as it began to take on its new enhancements. No soon had he completed his upgrades did a warning come through stating that both vessels had jumped to warp.

John took the captains chair "Pursuit course, maximum warp!" he shouted.

The Enterprise jumped to warp following the scimitar, which in turn followed the 24th century Vulcan ship.

"Sir long range sensors show that Nero's ship has locked a tractor beam onto Spock's vessel" Sulu announced as the enterprise warped into the fray.

"Lock onto the away team beam the back scotty" John ordered.

"Confirmed sir we have them" Scottie replied just as the Scimitar vanished.

"What's happening?" Ohura questioned.

"They've activated their cloak" John replied as the ship shuddered from multiple plasma strikes against its shields.

"How the hell are they firing through their shields?" Jim questioned as he entered the bridge.

"They are utilizing Reman technology" John explained "Their cloaks were perfect, sensors from my time however, could easily penetrate them, unfortunately I was not able to upgrade this vessel with that technology"

The ship shook as it took another plasma strike.

"Tactical, full phaser strike all archs, lock onto any shield impacts and fire trans phasic torpedoes" John ordered.

Outside the enterprise fire in all directions utilizing the newly created phaser array's, As the Scimiter shimmered from a shield impact torpedoes were launched but were to slow to hit the fast moving target.

"Enough of this" John shouted with anger and moved over to the Helm where in gestured for Sulu to move out of the way.

Taking control of the helm John accessed the Bussard collectors, charging the particulate matter stored within the collectors he then vented them into open space. The effect was immediate as the particulate matter began to cling to the cloaking shield. "There you are" John smiled and fired a transphasic torpedo.

The Torpedo impacted, tearing the ship in half, igniting the red matter which in turn begun the formation of a singularity.

John stood transfixed upon the singularity "It's the only way home" he commented to Jim who stood beside him.

"You did it, you can now save us all" Jim smiled.

John Hugged his godson "When the timelines realign, you will not remember any of this, but I will always remember you" John explained as his body began to glow in crimson gold as the proximity to the massive singularity had restored his power.

John phased through the view screen, emerging on the other side as a sleek time ship, and darted towards the singularity. At its core the singularity collapsed as John absorbed its power, he then set a course for Romulus and vanished through time and space.

* * *

"Temporal download complete" Ezri smiled at John.  
John looked into the eyes of the Trill "The timeline, it's been restored!" he yelled with joy.

The director bound across the room "Is something wrong?"

Ezri looked at the director with confusion "I don't know"

John looked the director in the eyes "You won't believe what I have been through" he laughed "47 years, I've just lived 47 years in an instant. Oh and please make sure the next time you clean up a mess from the 27th century, you be sure to keep track of every stray atom"

* * *

Azani Troy made her way to Sick bay where she was greeted by Lenard McCoy.

"Are you okay ensign?" Bones questioned.

"I'm sorry to bother you it's just I haven't been feeling too well recently, I've just been putting off seeing you because of the whole Nero incident but now that's over, well here I am" She confessed.

Bones pulled out a scanner and began taking readings, and then it popped up, the reason for the ensigns sickness.

"You're pregnant" he stated flatly.

Azani's eyes grew wide with shock "That's impossible, I've never slept with anyone before" she confessed. As the pair looked at the imaging results on a video screen.

Meanwhile Deep in the depths of the multiverse Q looked upon this new universe with a smile. The child was powerful, having sensed its own potential demise in its own universe, it slipped into this parallel universe, almost the same, yet only different in that its father did not exist here.

The End

* * *

A/N: Okay, well thats the end of the story, the universe the baby moved into was the current one occupied in the movie, so I'm going to begin a second story that will focus around this new entities existence and will be the crews first adventure sans movie.


	14. Chapter 14

Okay even though the stories over I would like to ask if anyone out there would mind beta reading it for me so i can republish it in a more readible format... if you're interested either message me or email me at thanks.


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